A Leap of Faith
by Birai
Summary: Weird stuff starts happening, and it's somehow attached to the arrival of Amane Bakura. WARNING: may include comedy, love, adorable monsters, and reconciliation with a tragic past and an uncertain future.
1. What happened last night?

**A/N: You thought my Detective Conan one was bizarre? Wait till I'm finished here, you'll have whole new definitions of surreal.**

"Who cares why, it's freaking me out!" Yugi yelled into the phone. Yami was eating popcorn and staring at him upside down from the couch; for reasons known only to the chipmunk gods of Manga, they had woken up that morning with separate bodies. Well, more accurately, Yugi had woken up and found Yami already halfway through breakfast. ("You look tired... Pass the apricot jam?") A few minutes later, Yami had announced pointedly that the two pieces of bread that were in the pantry did _not_ count as breakfast, and Yugi managed to find a questionable popcorn package in the freezer. And now he was calling Téa to let some of the belated panic slough off.

"_Are you sure he's not just... Um, whatever's normal?"_ she asked for the umpteenth time. Yugi could almost hear her gesturing vauely.

"He's eating popcorn! Here, listen, it's making noise!" He held the receiver out and Yami crunched a piece loudly.

"Sorry, do you want some?"

"See? SEE?"

_"I'll bring Joey and Tristan over."_

"I'm glad grandpa's out of town today..."

_ "Oh, yeah... See you soon."_

Yugi glanced over at the munching sound.

"Can you at least _try_ not to drop half of it in the couch?"

"_You_ made it. Besides, I'm not sure why you're being so contrary now. You were just fine when I made you toast."

"Yes, but that was then. This is now, after I've come out of shock."

"Well get back into it, you're being annoying."

Ryou Bakura, however, was not affected by this strange phenomenon, and got up and made breakfast for himself. He looked up at his calender, and his eyes widened. _Today? It can't be today already!_ He grinned, and started running around the house wildly. "Clothes, clothes, need jeans- Ah! _Here_ they are! Still need to clean my room, oh well, she'll have to manage without, _GYAAAH,_ is that the time? I'm going to be LATE! Where did I put those house keys?" He didn't even stop talking to himself as he was sprinting out the door, jumping into one of his sneakers and tying the other with his teeth. Oh, he had to go fast fast _fast_, if he missed the incoming flight she'd be maaaaaaaaad. He hadn't seen her in ages- this would be so fun! Finally, he could take it no longer and screamed at the top of his lungs as he barreled into the street.

_"MY SISTER'S IN TOWN!"_


	2. Spontaneous

"Well, he's real all right," Joey frowned, looking between the two Yugis as if his brain was about to explode. "Man, how the heck did _this_ happen?"

"I hate to admit this, but I haven't the faintest clue," Yami sucked passively on his juicebox. For some reason, he had mentioned that he really wanted sweet things, and juiceboxes were about the sweetest things Yugi kept in the house.

"That makes all of us," Téa sighed. "Well, what're we going to do now?"

"I guess he could just stay around the house," Yugi shrugged. "If he keeps to my room it should be fine, no one ever goes up there anyway."

"I dislike this idea of perpetual confinement," Yami made an annoying _ssschkgggggggggchchch_ sound with the straw that signaled the need of another juice box. "It sounds distinctly devoid of card games."

"I could invite Kaiba over."

"Forget I mentioned it," Yami looked faintly ill.

The front door slammed open, and Téa quickly pushed Yami upstairs.

"_GuysguysguysguysGUYS!_" Ryou hung on the doorframe, "Amane's flight's coming in today!"

"Amane?" Joey started "Wh-who?"

"But I thought you sister was..." Yugi said uncertainly.

"No, no," Ryou laughed, "She was in a car accident years ago, and she's been in the hospital on and off, but she's just fine! Unfortunately I haven't seen her in a while, so this is an exciting day for me."

"I can tell," Joey raised an eyebrow. _My God, I haven't seen him this worked up since he discovered coffee._

"Can you come with me? I really want you to meet her!" Ryou jumped up and down excitedly.

"Um, sure," Yugi looked nervously upstairs and started talking loudly. "Of course we'll come meet your sister! The airport is just a few minutes away!"

"Yeah!" Ryou caught on quickly and began yelling too. "Why are we shouting?"

"I don't know!" Yami called from upstairs.

"I'll stay here," Tristan sighed. "To keep the house from spontaneously exploding."


	3. Fragile

"I think this is her gate," Ryou glanced between his slip of paper and the terminal numbers. "She said the plane would be late, so I think we have a while."

"What's your sister like?" Yugi asked curiously.

"Oh, she's a very interesting person!" Ryou replied eagerly. "We look completely different, no one would guess that we're siblings. She's the older one, and even though it's not by that much, she always looked after me.

"After the car accident, I visited her in the hospital a lot, but once she regained consciousness, she asked me not to come anymore. For a while we exchanged letters, but after a year, she stopped replying. Her last one explained that she didn't want me to see her so fragile as she was now." Ryou looked mildly sad, but shook his head with a smile. "I haven't seen her since. Last week, out of the blue, she called me and said she was coming out."

"Wow," Téa breathed. "That's amazing!"

"Still, it doesn't really answer my question," Yugi frowned, "What's she _like_? Is she annoying? Cheerful? Depressed?"

"Well..." Ryou scuffed his shoes on the sparse carpeting. "I'm actually not sure. I haven't seen her in years- she sounded okay on the phone, though. And she was always so strong, I'm sure she's fine!" For once, Ryou looked slightly anxious. "Just fine."

The incoming flight was announced, the doors opened, and a tallish teenaged girl instantly came barreling out. Her jet black hair was tied back in a spiky ponytail with an electric blue tip, and her flashing lavender eyes scanned the crowd expertly, finally finding their target.

Amane Bakura grinned and jogged over to them.

_"Ryou-chan_, you're so tall now!" she laughed, pulling him into an affectionate headlock against her puffy blue vest. "Oh you brought your friends! Alright, which one of you yanked this idiot out of his textbooks long enough to see some new faces?"

"Everybody," Ryou laughed, "This is my sister, Amane. Amane, this is Yugi, Joey, Téa, and Tr- Um, usually Tristan. He seems to have disappeared."

"Nice to meetcha," Yugi shook Amane's outstretched hand gingerly.

"Hi!" Téa smiled brightly.

"When he said completely different, I don't know what I expected, but..." Joey laughed.

"Yeah, I take more after Mom," Amane grinned sheepishly.

"So what do you want to do first?" Ryou looked around. "We could go to a theme park, or get lunch, or-"

"How about," Amane steered Ryou towards the exit, "We start by leaving the plane terminal."

** A/N: My version of Amane Bakura! Thus introduced is my AU. Mostly. Though come to think of it, did anyone actually say that Amane was dead? Anyways, I always thought it would explain some things if Ryou had a very overbearing sister. No, she doesn't actually have blue highlights, she dyes it. Purple eyes because Ryou does; I debated giving her green ones like in the original Ryou.**


	4. Yet

"So you just sit around all day?" Tristan was sitting across the table from Yami, and they were sharing a pizza they had ordered.

"Yeah," Yami inspected his cheesy bread-related item broodingly. "Yeah, pretty much."

"God, that must be boring."

"You have no idea."

"No wonder you take over Yugi all the time, you've gotta have _something _to do."

"I don't even have a very interesting room, it's this weird labyrinthy-thingy. It can't be too much to ask for a motivational poster or two."

"Tchyah."

"Mmm, what did you say this was called again? P'sah?"

"Pizza."

"Ah. Finger foods are very nice."

"Totally," Tristan grappled with a particularly sticky length of cheese, finally tearing it off and just popping it in his mouth.

For the record, the house hadn't spontaneously exploded.

Yet.


	5. Two for one

Ryou shuddered.

"Something wrong?" Yugi looked concerned. They had been walking around the zoo (the first tourist attraction they could think of, other than Kaibaland) for a good two hours, and he wondered if Ryou was tired.

"Ah... I-it's nothing, it'll go away in a minute," Ryou smiled weakly. Amane's eyes narrowed.

"Let's sit down; you guys keep going, we'll meet you at the penguins."

"Okay..." Téa wanted to wait with them, but there was no arguing with Amane, and soon the two siblings were seated alone on a park bench. Under Ryou's shirt, the millennium ring glowed for a moment, then went dark.

"I think I'm fine now," Bakura said smoothly, attempting to stand up, but Amane held him down.

"Oh no you don't," she growled. Bakura slowly turned his head to her, and finally smirked.

"Never could fool you," he shook his head.

"Never will, either. Now go away and let me be with my brother."

"Aww, you didn't miss me?" Bakura pouted. "And here I've been taking good care of him while you were gone."

Amane blinked. "W-what have you done?"

"Nothing serious," Bakura sighed, "Or, at least, I won't now that you're here. I had to try one last time, but my real purpose for emerging now is to give you a message."

Amane looked slightly confused, and Bakura chuckled, his voice barely audible over the noise of a passing school group.

"Foolish girl. You try to protect that brat of a sibling, but you have no idea how much power he has. It doesn't help that your presence gives him strength; it was harder than ever to take control this time. The fact that I'm talking to you so civilly should tell you that I have little time left. The bridge is falling into the void, and two shall become one. Something is changing, something that looks to be very very dangerous. And from what I can see, you are at the very heart of it. _Agh-_" he clawed at his chest and panted for a second, his words becoming strained. "Someone has stolen- _rrgh_- the _key_. You have to- do something- _please_-"

"Why should I help you?" Amane asked slowly. Bakura clutched her shoulder, and stared fearfully up at her. For half a second, Amane wasn't sure who was answering her question.

"Because I don't want to die," he whispered.

Bakura went limp, and Ryou shook his head blearily.

"Did I pass out?" He blinked rapidly.

"No, you just said you felt sick. I told you you haven't been drinking enough water." Amane led her brother back to his friends, and thought about Bakura's struggling warning. She suspected he wasn't lying; he had never been very subtle with her, though that might have been because Ryou was so young. Before the car accident, Amane had acted as a sort of safeguard against Bakura's occasional outbursts, slowly learning to detect and suppress the spirit so that Ryou could continue with his life. For as long as they'd been together, her concern had been Ryou and Ryou alone. But now...

_I don't want to die._

Amane wondered if her responsibility had doubled.


	6. Dead one

**A/N: Apparently there was some confusion as to what the deal is with Ryou and Bakura (since it seems to be different in every fic), so here it is. Ryou doesn't know that Bakura exists, and Bakura doesn't have a physical form. Not sure how Ryou got through so much anime without a clue about what the **** was going on, but hey, so did I. XD**

"So what shall we have for dinner?" Ryou was bustling around the kitchen and poked his head into the living room, where Amane was sprawled over the couch watching _Bleach._

"Hmmm... What do you want?"

"No, no, it's your first day in town, you get to choose."

"You're going to say that tomorrow, too, but with another excuse."

"Well..."

"How about this: I'll eat anything you deem fit for human consumption. To be perfectly honest, I'm so hungry I would eat a live cow if someone put it in front of me."

"Oookay," Ryou folded. He glanced at the contents of his pantry, fridge, and freezer, and finally pulled something out. "How about a dead one? I have steak."

"That was quite possibly the least appetizing way I've ever heard steak described, but I'll take it."

After just a few minutes, Ryou came out with dinner.

"That was fast," Amane gave him an odd look. "You like steak rare?"

"Yes, I- Erm, yes." Ryou sounded mildly surprised. "Is that okay?"

"Oh, yes, I just didn't figure you would like it." She shrugged, and they started eating.

When Amane looked up halfway through her meal to see that Ryou was already finished, and leaning his chair on its back legs, she cocked her head. "You okay?"

"Oh- sorry, didn't even notice," he said embarrassedly, quickly dropping his chair to the floor. He was faintly puzzled that he'd been leaning back in the first place; when he was little, teachers would always yell if you leaned back in your chair.

"So, how are you doing these days?" Amane returned to her steak.

"Great!" Ryou nodded eagerly. "Great, my friends are really nice, school is easy, too." Suddenly, the room started to sway around him, and his head felt heavy. He yawned, and stretched widely. "I-I think I'll turn in for tonight, if it's all the same to you."

"Aww, but you said we could play Duel Monsters..." Amane said disappointedly. Bakura ignored her and tried not to stagger until he could close and lock his bedroom door. He clasped his head painfully, not even noticing that the Ring was flickering erratically.

_What's __**No, it's **__happening to me? I feel like __**finally here, I'm **__my head's expl__** going to disappear forever. Why**__ oding! Worst headache I ever __**now, why here? Oh, Ra, I bet he can**__ had, it's so strange, it's like I'm__** hear everything I'm saying **__catching white noise from another frequency or something __**RYOU! Listen to me!**__ Wha? That actually __**You have to keep your head together**__ was that just __**I don't know how**__ sounded like it was talking to me__** long this is going to last, but **__now it really IS talking to me! Hello? Alien mind-control thing? Telepathic person? No? Oh well._ The headache subsided, and slowly, the Millennium Ring's glow faded away. For the first time, Ryou noticed the strange chafe of its rope around his neck, the thick weight pressing against his chest. He frowned at the pendant for a moment, and finally took it off, hanging it on the corner of his nightstand. As he got ready for bed, he thought he could catch little whispers in the silence, like someone's dying breath.


	7. Eh

**A/N: Just a short one, so I thought I'd post it on the heels of the last.**

A slim girl with a muddled brown cat draped over her shoulders stared up at Yugi's house. The dim neon lights did not penetrate the shadow over her face, but only gave a ghostly tint to her gray hoodie. Her eyes wandered from the sign to the door, the sign again, and finally Yugi's bedroom window. She checked again the slip of paper torn out of a phonebook. "Mutou- well, that's him all right." She let out a long, drawn-out sigh, petting her cat fondly. _I'll do it tomorrow._


	8. Not really

**A/N: Since this story seems to be so popular, I'm going to try for daily updates. Wish me luck!  
**

Amane had timed her arrival expertly- early on Saturday. Sunday morning came far too early, but Ryou was up as usual, making enough omurice for three people because he was _very_ hungry suddenly, and not entirely sure why. Amane woke at what was, for her, a satisfyingly early time- 8:30ish.

"Good morning Ryou how was your _Oh my GOD what did you do those eggs?__!_"

"Good morning nee-chan!" Ryou smiled perkily. "Don't worry, it's just ketchup."

"_Just_ ketchup? H-how many bottles did you use?"

"Oh, I'd say about one." The younger sibling frowned at his breakfast. "Why? If you wanted something else you really have to get up earlier."

"It's not that, I- Okay, just forget it. I like omurice." She decided to let it go, but remembered a similar meal with Bakura, before she'd learned the difference between him and her brother.

_"What, you don't like blood?"_ he had grinned wickedly, holding up a ketchup-drenched hand to her horror. _"And you were wondering where Mom went this morning, well."_

Breakfast in the Mutou household was also rather strained.

"And you have no idea why?" Grandpa asked. Again.

"Can't I just go upstairs and be done with it?" Yami pleaded with his twin.

"Not a chance," Yugi hissed.

"Insolent twerp," the ex-pharaoh huffed.

"Go stuff yourself, you old codger."

"Stop yelling, both of you!" Grandpa yelled.

"Sorry," both Yami and Yugi said in unison.

"I think I just might have a solution for this mess. Do you still have Him on caller ID?"

"Him...?" Yugi tried hard not to connect the innuendo, and succeeded only on pasting a fake smile on his face. "Wh-who do you mean?"

Grandpa raised an eyebrow.

"Yes he's still there," Yugi blurted out quietly.

"Uh?" Yami was looking worriedly between them. "What are you talking about?"

"Here," Grandpa handed him the phone.

Somewhere, a telephone rang. The owner thereof wondered vaguely why there was nobody to pick it up, then remembered that it was his private number and no one was allowed into his bedroom until after noon.

Thus, with some muffled swearing and much fumbling in the dark, Seto Kaiba managed to fall out of bed.

The effect on Yami's end of the phone line was much more climactic.

_"Before you start trying to sell me whatever the **** you're about to, let me just say that I _will_ find you. I will hunt you down and have you tortured, killed, and cloned so I can kill you again. Keeping this in mind, I will now ask you the question on which your life depends. What. Do. You. WANT."_

"You can clone people now?"

_"Not really. They're just sort of empty shells, but if it looks like you I'll sustain some small sense of joy in killing it. Who is this, by the way?"_

"It's not Yugi."

_"But you sound- Oh God, it's _You_."_

Yugi took the phone resignedly. "Do I need to explain?"

_"There are about five hundred different questions running through my head right now, but I'll spare you and just ask where you are."_

"The game shop."

_ "Ten minutes."_

Clickbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...


	9. Stressful and Difficult

"Please?" Yugi felt like he was literally begging on his knees.

"Not in a million years," Kaiba said coldly. "Not for a million dollars. You're not getting me to take in your alley cat of an alter-ego."

"Frankly I wouldn't be caught dead in his house, anyway," Yami agreed.

_ Think,_ Yugi berated himself, _There's gotta be a way to solve this. Just like a game. What are their weaknesses?_ After being in one head with Yami for- had it really been years now?- he knew that the pharaoh had fiery pride and an even hotter temper. Kaiba was... Startlingly similar. Yugi suppressed a smile as he thought of his plan, and replaced it with a huff.

"I knew you couldn't."

"What?" both Yami and Kaiba said in unison, and Yugi knew he'd hit a nerve.

"I figured this was a lost cause before we came. I thought _These two, they just can't handle this kind of situation. It's far too stressful and difficult._" He let out a heavy sigh. "Still, I _had_ hoped you'd come through and prove me wrong...

"Here's the key to the back door," Kaiba grumbled. "Up the stairs, second door on the right. Touch anything else, and you're sleeping outside."

"You have a cruel, twisted mind, Yugi," Yami said reproachfully as his new landlord stalked off.


	10. Interesting

**A/N: In which we find out who the mysterious girl is.**

"Ryou," Amane looked curiously at her brother, "You're not wearing that necklace today." They had decided- er, _Amane_ had decided- to take the tram to Harajuku and meet Téa for some hard-core shopping. After a few minutes of bickering over costumes, the girls had decided just to wear whatever they could come up with. Conveniently for Amane, Yugi had some old cosplay merchandise in one of the game shop's many cardboard boxes, including a somewhat motheaten Naruto robe.

"Oh- yeah, it just... Yeah. Why?"

"Just wondering. Could I look at it when we get home?"

"You can look at it right now!" Ryou rummaged in his backpack for a few seconds, finally pulling out the worn thread and glittering pendant. "You can _have_ it, for all I care. Only hoodlums, Yugi, and girls wear necklaces."

"Interesting set of people, those." Amane held the piece of jewelry up to the light, hefting the weight and rubbing one of the poky things. "You know this is fake, right?"

Silence. A suspicious-looking man nearby settled back into his seat disappointedly.

"Ha, good one," Ryou snickered.

"No, really, this isn't gold. First of all, gold is heavy, this hardly weighs more than a soda can. Secondly, this even _feels_ like paint- look, it's all rubbery." She held it out, and Ryou touched it gingerly. He gave a hollow laugh.

"Wow. All this time, I... I mean, it's no big deal, but... Well, you can _definitely_ have it now!" He tried to smile, but Amane could tell that her brother was genuinely sad. She also knew that the Millennium Ring had been real- real gold, real evil, real everything.

Harajuku was announced, and the door slid open with a mechanical whirr. The siblings got off the tram with mixed feelings on both parts, but they managed to keep Téa from asking about anything.

"Why do I always end up with you when you go shopping..." Yugi groaned.

"Oh come on, when else do you get to see me dress up in skimpy clothing?" Téa replied smugly. She was dressed as an anime character with a tiger print bikini and stubby horns. "Ama-chan! Nice Naruto setup."

"Ama...?" Yugi looked between the two girls as if they had just grown second heads. Ryou handed Amane her bags with a disgruntled growl. "Come on, Yugi, let's go find a manga store before we fill in as caddies."

Yugi tried to make conversation as he was dragged through the sea of humanity, nearly knocking somebody down and tripping over a little boy. "Since when are you so against spending time with your sister? I mean, you haven't seen her in years."

Ryou slowed to a stop, blinking confusedly. "You're right, that was... That was really dumb, and rude, and... Wow." They stood for a few seconds, trying to figure out if it would be more embarrassing to run back now or confront them later. Finally, they settled on wandering around until they ran into the girls again.

"Hey, Yugi," Ryou asked quietly, "Have I been acting weird lately?"

"Uhhhh, a little maybe," Yugi gave him a sideways look. "Why?"

"Nothing, I guess I'm just kind of upset. Amane says the Millennium Ring is a fake."

"Really? Woah, now _that's_ weird."

"Yeah, but that was my only big tie to you when we first met. I just..." Ryou gave him a pleading look. "I just want you to know that I only found out today. So you don't think I made the whole thing up to be friends with you."

Yugi grinned. "Trust me, we've got a lot more in common than a couple pieces of metal." They scanned the crowd for a redhead and a black ponytail. "Oh hey, that's Marik!" Yugi pointed excitedly.

"Marik? Oh, um... I think I remember him. What's he doing in Harajuku?"

"I don't know, but let's go find out! HEY MA-aaaahahaokay, nevermind," Yugi began walking quickly in the other direction.

"What?"

"It's a girl."

"Oh!"

"Hey, don't yell at me and just run off!" A pair of hands grabbed a shoulder each. "What did you want?"

"Uh-" Ryou and Yugi stared blankly at the girl who was giving them an amazingly familiar glare. She had skin like milk chocolate, and hair the color of straw. A piercing gaze gave her a forbidding look, and an amazing mass of gold jewelry was settled over her light purple vest. The boys stared for a few seconds; their eyes flickered between what had to be Marik's face and a few inches downward at what was _definitely_ not Marik's cleavage.

"You're- but- that- and-" Ryou spluttered.

"You actually saved me a trip," Marik smirked. "I guess this needs explaining, though, so you might as well help me find Ishizu so we can talk."

"Wait, how do you know Ishizu?" Yugi frowned.

"He's kinda slow, isn't he?" Marik giggled to Ryou. "But then, he's not the one you like to deal with, right Bakura?" Suddenly, Marik's suspicious face was inches from Ryou's. "Waaaaitaaaaaaaaminute, you're not- Ah, because you're with Yugi." With a final laugh, Marik stalked off. "Anyway, come, help me find my sister."

"So wait, you _are_ Marik?" This time it was Yugi doing the dragging, running to catch up with the new arrival.

"Yes, thank you, I didn't need that pointed out to me."

"But you're a girl!"

"That's equally obvious."

"But Marik is a boy!"

"Look, if you're going to be an idiot I'll just take Bakura and leave you behind!" Marik turned angrily. Ryou cleared his throat. "Um, Marik-"

Suddenly, the girl lashed out at Ryou.

"No, enough with the 'um', why are you acting like this?" She flicked Ryou's head, and he shook it confusedly. "I just don't get it, you're both in there, why isn't he-"

"Marik, I don't think you're used to being a girl yet." Ryou poked Marik's chest awkwardly, which had been squished up against him. Marik raised an eyebrow and didn't move.

"Frankly, I don't much care, and you shouldn't either. At least you're listening to me. _There_ she is!" Marik suddenly darted off in a random direction, bowling over the poor kid from earlier, and Ryou took a deep breath, sighing through his cheeks. Marik came back with a brownish cat clutched in her arms, beaming wide. "Yugi, Bakura, I'm not sure if you recognize Ishizu, but..."

"So let me get this straight," Yugi held up a hand and closed his eyes. "Marik's a girl, Ishizu's a cat, and Atem is another person- what- what is going _on?_"

"That's what we're here to explain," Ishizu said calmly.

"I'm _severely_ confused right now..." Ryou gave the cat a mystified look. "But I get the feeling it isn't going to away if I scream like a little girl and run in the opposite direction as fast as I can."

"Finally, sense appears," Marik rolled her eyes. "And no it won't go away, so all you get to do is pick: your place or mine."

There was an awkward silence.

"...okay, that came out wrong, but seriously; Ryou's apartment, or my hotel room?"

"Hotel room," Yugi and Bakura said at once.


	11. Gum

"Weird, I thought they'd come running back," Amane looked around for her brother.

"Great, ditched in Harajuku..." Téa huffed.

A few seconds of silence.

"Want some candy?" Amane pulled a small box of hard candy from her purse, and Téa gave her a strange look.

"You keep candy in your purse?"

"Yep. I keep all sorts of things in there, floss, pencils, deck of cards..."

"How about a GPS on that little brother of yours?"

"Sadly, no."

"Oh well," Téa sighed. "I'll take some gum, thanks."


	12. Fast

** A/N: This is probably the time to remind y'all that Dark Marik isn't actually a spirit in the Millennium Rod. Marik has dissociative identity disorder, commonly known as a split personality. Seriously, after reading the Wikipedia article on it, I half expected to see his picture down at the bottom.**

** Anyway, that's why I turned him into a girl instead of two people. That, and I've always kind of wanted to see him as a girl.**

"Have a seat anywhere," Marik closed the door behind her party of two. There was a single unmade futon over the blue carpet, facing the TV and two chairs. A sliding glass door overlooked a small balcony and plastic lawn chair that looked like it was about to fall apart. From outside came a faint sound of birds flying by. It was a strange look into the backstage life of someone like Marik. He- she- would show up whenever she felt like it, and act mysterious and powerful when she got there, but at the end of the day everyone needs a place to sleep. As Marik sat cross-legged on the bed, and Yugi and Ryou took their seats flanking the TV. "Now, Ishizu, if you would explain?"

Ishizu was draped over Marik's lap, and twitched her ears calmly. "Just think about it. What have we all got in common?"

There was a long pause, and finally Yugi made a triangle with his fingers doubtfully. Ishizu nodded. "The Items, yes. Now, I'm probably one of the only living people who knows what's really going on, so I'll try to pin it into understandable terms. You already know that there are seven Millennium items- these items have a strong tie to whomever they choose, both physically and mentally." She looked pointedly at Ryou. "Which is why it's such a problem when one gets _stolen._"

Ryou tilted his head slightly. "...why are you all looking at me?"

"Moving on- So, to put it simply, someone has not only been tampering with items, swapping around owners, not only have they also been messing around with peoples' minds with the Millennium Key- but they have placed a catalyst."

This didn't have the effect Ishizu obviously expected it to.

"You don't know what that word means, do you?"

"Something about chemistry," Yugi frowned.

"Not in this case. A catalyst is the start of a reaction." Seeing blank looks, Ishizu lashed her tail, the cat equivalent of rolling one's eyes. "Think of a light switch. The catalyst is you flipping a light switch, and the light going on is the reaction. This particular catalyst is a piece of old magic, one I thought had been lost or destroyed. Normally, the power of the Millennium Items is contained within the items themselves, but this spell leeches some of the power for the caster's use. Though the source of the power isn't diminished, there is a side effect that... _changes_ the keeper. In the case of Marik and I, it manifested physically, but if I'm not mistaken Bakura's case is different."

Silence.

"Why are you all _looking_ at me?" Ryou repeated, looked around shiftily. "Th-the ring is fake, anyway."

"It's no fake." Ishizu interrupted. "The one you have right now, definitely, which is most likely why your reaction seems to have been... Halted somehow. Tampered with even further."

"Reaction- like an allergic reaction?" Ryou asked worriedly.

"The blockage is more dangerous than the alternative," Ishizu clarified. "The Millennium Ring had a spirit, yes?"

Ryou gave her a stunned look somewhere between fear and disbelief.

"E-excuse me?"

"Yeah, it did," Yugi answered for him.

"Wait, what?" Ryou protested, looking between Marik and Yugi.

"And so did the puzzle." Ishizu ignored Ryou. "I take it he separated from you?"

"He did, but I'm not sure if this is making more sense or less as you go along," Yugi brooded.

"Because the Ring was stolen-" Ishizu stared at Ryou pensively- "The reaction backfired. Instead of becoming two people, you'll become one."

Ryou dropped the disbelief and went straight for panic. "Couldn't you have just started with the spirit thing and worked me up to this?"

"Kinda late for that," Yugi admitted ruefully.

"Just- just give me a minute." Ryou held his head in his hands, clutching his bushy hair. "I'm going to turn into another _person?_"

"No 'going to' about it, the process is already well on its way." Ishizu jumped down and surveyed Ryou like a scientist might look at a microscope slide. "All the more reason to find and disable the catalyst."

"No."

Everyone stared at Yugi.

"What did you say?" Marik asked incredulously.

"No. I said no." Yugi suddenly looked determined. "If Bakura is being eaten away by that _thing_, then we need to get the Ring back and pull them apart before it gets worse."

Ryou muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like _"...I'm not a thing."_, and Yugi gave Ishizu a meaningful look. She blinked slowly. "I can see how desperate the situation is, but we have to prioritize-"

"I said no and I mean it, I'm not helping you until we get that Ring!" Yugi said angrily.

Marik tapped Ishizu. "Actually, I kind of agree with him."

"_What?_" Ishizu hissed.

"Yeah." Marik crossed her arms sternly. "I do."

"If this magic was in the wrong hands, it could bring about the end of the world!" Ishizu lashed her tail angrily. "I thought you were on my side."

"It's been loose for a couple days now." Marik gave Ryou a sideways smile. "We can spare a few more."

When it was obvious she wasn't going to win the argument, Ishizu sniffed dismissively and stalked out onto the balcony. "On your head be it. Now, I'm going to go find some _sane_ people to help me."

"Don't worry about her." Marik grabbed a pair of sodas from the minibar and handed them to her guests. "She means well, she just doesn't have many friends." She pointed to Ryou sternly. "And _you_- you better be damn well worth this, got it?"

"At this point I don't know _what_ I'm worth," Ryou said miserably.

"Don't worry about it!" Yugi patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. "We'll get you back to normal."

"Err... Actually, I _would_ worry." Marik peered into her soda doubtfully. "We have to find an item of incalculable power, steal it back from whoever nicked it first, all while avoiding this catalyst thing." Her eyes widened, and she suddenly splashed her soda on the two boys, who dropped theirs.

"Gaah, these are my favorite pants..."

"What was that for?" Ryou asked indignantly.

"Look!" Marik pointed hysterically at the carpet. Hanging barely out of the mouth of her soda can was a thin, sharp piece of metal. Yugi picked it up gingerly and it glinted in the fluorescent lights.

"Is that a needle?" Ryou looked faintly sick. "That's a needle, isn't it. Oh my God..."

"Whatever we do-" Marik cleared her throat nervously and went to look for some paper towels- "We'd better do it fast."


	13. Strange

"And just where were you?" Amane called from the couch as Ryou opened the door to his apartment.

No answer.

"Ryou?"

Ryou stared at the ground and walked silently past his sister, who stood up hastily and grabbed his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

"N... Nothing." Ryou smiled weakly and tried to push off Amane's hand, but she held him tighter.

"Don't tell me nothing's wrong, you look like a zombie! What is it?"

Ryou closed his eyes and sighed. He whispered something about the Ring and evil spirits and Yugi. Finally he looked balefully at Amane again. "Just tired. So tired..."

Amane ignored his excuse and concentrated on the mumbled sentence. "Wait, Ring? Your necklace? Don't beat yourself up about that, I'm sure it's around somewhere-"

"-don't feel so good..." Ryou swayed slightly. Amane held him up, preparing for another meeting with Bakura. Instead, Ryou simply shook his head weakly. "You... Took it didn't you?"

"I'm so sorry." Amane looked guiltily at her sibling. "I thought this would stop, maybe go away if I got rid of that necklace. I just made it _worse_."

"Where...?" Ryou could hardly get out a sentence, and his breathing was heavy and rough.

"Shoebox, under my bed." She practically carried him to it, and he leaned against a wall as she pulled it out. Amane stared at the Ring bitterly, finally handing it to Ryou. "I hope you know what you're doing."

Ryou ignored her and simply threaded the pendant's chain around his neck. For a second, he looked completely recovered. He drew a shaky breath and was about to say something-

-just as he passed out.

"Dammit, I _knew_ this was going to happen!" Amane screamed. She desperately tried to pull the necklace off, but it wouldn't budge from Ryou's chest. The harder she pulled, the more it stuck on. Ryou finally stirred, and she froze, uncertain of who was about to wake up.

"Mmmm... five more minutes, mum," he said in English.

Amane gave him an annoyed look, and with much cursing heaved him onto the bed. The pendant not moving was definitely strange, but Ryou just seemed like he was asleep. He looked like he'd needed it.

She stared at him for a minute, then sighed, walking tiredly to the phone. "Hey, Yugi? Oh! Sorry Téa, didn't think you'd be there. Listen, Ryou just collapsed on my bed, and I think it's got something to do with that weird necklace he has. Uh-huh. Right. Okay, I'll be over in a minute. See ya."

Amane hung up and went to check on her brother one last time. No temperature, and he wasn't tossing and turning... _Hang in there, Ryou._

The second she closed the door, Ryou smiled in his sleep and started talking to himself. "That was so... Strange.

"Oh, and you're only just now saying that.

"You can't blame me for catching on a little slowly.

"And you can't blame me either- I didn't ask for eternity dealing with whatever flake is my reincarnation.

"Thanks, thanks very much."

The Ring glowed ominously, and the conversation stopped.


	14. You know the one

**A/N: For some reason I had this vision of Yami spinning by Seto on one of those rolley chairs. You know the one.**

"Just how many maids do you have cleaning this place?" Yami tapped at a spotless marble column warily. "Or do you just scare all the dust off?"

"Remind me again why you're talking to me." Kaiba, still in his pajamas at two in the afternoon, didn't look up from either his computer or his cereal.

"Because I'm bored and so are you." The unwanted guest crossed the hall with a leisurely gait and sat heavily in Kaiba's spare office chair, which, even though it was terribly hard to carry down the stairs, was fantastic for skating around the first floor of the mansion.

"Get out of the chair. And I'm not bored."

"You're playing _solitaire_." Yami spun behind Kaiba with his head over the back of the chair. "Solitaire, Seto."

"And what's the alternative, then? Spend another few months in a coma just because you're bored? Yeah, thanks, but I have a company to run."

Yami slowed to a stop just next to Kaiba and gestured at the screen. "Don't draw, there's a Jack right there." He slid away again as Kaiba turned back with a murderous stare.

"You know, I'm sure I could find a nice cozy broom closet that locks from the outside."

"So you don't want to play Duel Monsters with me, I get it." Yami jumped out of the chair and leaned on Kaiba's shoulder. "We don't _have_ to do that."


	15. Homework

**A/N: First, get your mind out of the gutter. Second, I know you didn't listen to me the first time, so get your mind out of the gutter.**

Mokuba led Amane and Yugi up to his brother's mansion and told them to turn away as he entered the code for the lock. "He's probably still asleep, but you can check if you want," he added. "You can turn around now."

"I just want to ask him which room Yami's in." Yugi looked around the mansion curiously. "Ooh, new staircase."

"Thanks, just had it finished. As for the room... Well, with Seto it's hard to tell. There are about... Let's see, two, three, five guest rooms, and they're sort of scattered all over the place." He turned to the guests and shrugged. "Like I said, you should just check if he's awake and wait for him. The chefs will make you sandwiches or something if you get hungry."

"You're not staying?" Yugi asked.

"Nope. Believe it or not, I _do_ have to do homework. _Ciao_."

"All right, let's-" Yugi stopped and turned to Amane, who was still standing in the doorway. He waved a hand in front of her face, and she blinked.

"Um. Right. How many banks did this guy rob, again?"

"Don't mention it to him, it just goes to his head." Yugi smirked, walking over to the huge sweeping staircase. "Okay... I'm pretty sure his bedroom was up the stairs and to the left a bit."

"So you really think this Yami guy will be able to help my brother?"

"Sure! At least, he knows more about this stuff than I do." He slowed down as they got closer to the room and started to hear yelling, thudding, and muffled curses.

"...maybe we should come back later?" Amane coughed.

"Nooo, that's something else." Yugi opened the door and stared at something probably far more awkward than what Amane was picturing.

Standing on his knees on the bed was a pajama'd Kaiba, covered in blankets and staring at Yugi and Amane like they were his worst nightmare. On one side of the room, Yami was in a pair of jeans and XXL gray T-shirt, surrounded by a pillow fort and about to throw what looked suspiciously like a rolled-up sock. He instantly hid it behind his back, and cleared his throat. "We, um- w-we weren't having a sock-ball fight."

"Nope."

"Not at all."

"Do you see any socks?"

"_I_ don't see any."

"I should, um-" Kaiba dislodged most of the blankets brusquely. "I should get dressed."

Amane held up her hands and stifled a laugh as Yugi grabbed his darker half. Kaiba threw a sock at her.


	16. Nope

"All right, what was that about?" Yugi rounded on Yami angrily.

Yami gave him an only slightly guilty look. "Uhh... You know how no matter how many socks you buy, you always end up with exactly one from each pair?"

"..."

"Well, Kaiba has that problem, too, and a _lot_ of socks."

"How, exactly, did this come up?" Amane asked, mystified.

"He was wearing mismatched socks, and I asked, and he said what I just told you."

"And the clothes?" Yugi picked at the shirt suspiciously.

"Mokuba's." Yami shrugged. "Apparently someone keeps sending him these huge T-shirts that say "We 3 Mokuba" which turn out a nice monotone gray. And apparently I wear the same size jeans as him."

"Can we just focus on the problem, here?" Amane broke in curtly. Yugi jumped.

"Oh, right! Ryou's acting weird, he collapsed and Amane couldn't get his pendant off."

Yami glanced between the two of them silently.

"And you expect me to be able to help with this becaaause...?"

"Could you at least try?" Yugi looked disappointed. "You could do that glowy magic thing." He gestured wildly until Yami shot him an icy glare.

Yami sighed. "I'll go look at him. Just don't expect a miracle or anything."

"You're the _best!_" Yugi gave him a bear hug, and the much harassed pharaoh stared at the ceiling hopelessly.

Kaiba wanted them out so badly that he even gave them a ride to the apartment.

The stairs to the second floor looked taller and darker than ever as Amane thought of Ryou lying comatose on her bed. Maybe he was back to normal, with that strange alterego popping up? What if he was entirely different, _just_ the other Bakura? What if he was _dead?_ Part of her didn't want to know, and the rest of her needed desperately to.

"Ryou?" she called anxiously from the doorway.

"In my room!"

"Nope!" both cries came at once.

Yugi's eyes widened. "W-why don't you go downstairs Amane?"

"I just heard two voices." She frowned. "That's... Bad, isn't it?"

"Actually-" Marik poked his head through the front door, "I'd say that's a _good_ sign."

"What's a good sign?" Bakura demanded, hanging into the hallway off of the kitchen doorframe.

"_You!_" Amane snarled.

"Aww, I'm crushed." He held a hand to his chest in mock agony. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me again. We didn't properly meet at the zoo that one day, now did we?"

"Where is he?" Amane charged up to Bakura and grabbed him by his shirt. "_I want my brother!_"

"What's going on out there?" someone yelled from the back of the apartment. "I'll be out in a minute, there was soda all over my shirt."

Ryou breezed out of the bedroom quickly, straightening a creased blue shirt. "And then it'll get all gross and dry, and it won't come out in the wash for _days_-"

Amane hugged him almost as hard as she'd grabbed Bakura.

_"Gmmmph-_"

"Ohh boy." Yugi ran a hand through his hair, remembering that he hadn't brushed it that morning. For him, this was a serious occupational hazard. "This is going to take some work."


	17. Chances

"It's not like we didn't know this was going to happen," Yugi said patiently. He was between Bakura and everyone else, mainly in an attempt to keep both Amane and Yami from strangling him.

Amane raised her hand slightly. "I didn't."

"Me neither," Ryou agreed.

"You know, Marik-" Bakura looked over Yugi's shoulder, "I don't think that shirt fits anymore."

"You're saying you want me to take it off?" Marik teased.

"Nah, just that it looks better now."

"Is that like 'most improved'?" Marik raised an eyebrow.

"Moving on..." Yugi cleared his throat awkwardly. "We agreed to help once Ryou was sorted out, and he is." He glanced between Ryou and Bakura. "Both of him. So what's the plan now?"

"First, to find Ishizu." Marik had brushed off Bakura's comment, but still adjusted her shirt self-consciously. "She'll probably show up on her own, unless she actually finds someone to help her out."

"Pfft." Bakura rolled his eyes. "What are the chances of _that_ happening?"

* * *

Hours after his first ever sockball fight, Seto Kaiba was still in his pajamas, and still lying on his bed. _What do I care, I'm not leaving the house today,_ he thought absently. Puffing out his cheeks, he kicked his legs aimlessly. _That annoying know-it-all is right. Solitaire is the most degrading game on Earth, and the only people who match my skill in anything have magical powers that torment the loser for all eternity._

"Bored, are we?" came a voice from under his bed.

For half a second, every nightmare he'd had about boogeymen flashed into his mind, then were pushed out as he realized that this wasn't the strangest thing that had ever happened to him.

"No," he insisted, rolling onto his stomach and peering over the edge of the comforter. A light brown cat stalked out from beneath him and looked up disdainfully.

"I'm sure. Let me try a different train of thought, then- unless you're completely blind and witless you've noticed Yugi's puzzle by now."

"That was an insult, wasn't it."

"Quite the opposite, but I digress." Ishizu leapt onto the bed and stared at Kaiba with wise, dark eyes. "How would you like to have a Millenium Item yourself?"

Kaiba stared the cat.

"Not really," he replied slowly.

Ishizu pulled back, startled. "But- But- You- He- _Why?_"

"Seems like a lot of trouble, if you ask me." Kaiba stared at the ceiling again. "All this evil twins and spirits that possess you- I mean, you seem like someone who has one of those millennia things, and you're a _cat_. Who knows what'd happen to _me_."

Ishizu gave a sigh which Kaiba was almost willing to describe as cute. Kitty-sighs are not to be trifled with. "Probably for the best. I was only saying that to get your attention." She curled up into a little ball and peeked from under her tail at Kaiba.

"So, bribes aside, what did you want?"

"Someone who puts the needs of humanity in front of those of a whiny teenager and a backstabbing thief," Ishizu said angrily.

"That's fair."

"I suppose I can't properly call Bakura whiny," Ishizu continued. "But really, now! It's not a hard choice. The world as we know it- Bakura- world as we know it- Bakura- there's no comparison."

Kaiba nodded pensively, and they sat in silence for a minute.

"What would this 'someone' do?" he asked passively.

"Talk some sense into them, maybe." Ishizu stretched out on her belly and looked sadly at her paws. "I just don't know what to do anymore. Even Marik won't listen to me. Brothers are supposed to at least listen."

"Maybe he did," Kaiba looked over at Ishizu with a strangely knowing gaze. "Brothers can be like that sometimes. I'd bet money- well, no, but I'd bet that Marik doesn't want you to depend on him too much."

"Depend on _him_!" Ishizu sniffed. "I've been keeping him safe for years."

"Yeah, sure. But honestly, what would you do if he was gone? Do you actually think you could survive with that kind of hole in your life?"

"I..." Ishizu stared at him incredulously. "That's not- How..."

"A little guessing." Kaiba stretched widely. "A little experience. Being the oldest, you learn things. Little brothers can be a pain sometimes, can yell and scream and kick and cry when you really just want some quiet. Even with all that- when you need them, they're there."

Ishizu gave him one last calculating glance, then jumped off the bed. "Walk carefully, Seto Kaiba. It would be a shame to lose that mind of yours."

When Kaiba was sure no one was looking, he smiled and wondered for a second whether it was bad that he didn't consider a talking cat strange.

**A/N: Somehow, I figured he might open up to a cat. He seems like a cat person.**


	18. Oh wait

**A/N: Blatant Hitchhiker's Guide reference in here, but I thought it was a fitting tribute. You'll notice a pairing reference at the end, there, but I'm not going to tell you who he's thinking of just yet. Sorry for any shoddy editing earlier.  
**

When Ishizu strutted into Ryou's apartment, she pointedly ignored Marik.

"I see you've figured out your little problem. Now, if we could proceed to things that are actually important?"

"Oh no you don't." Marik grabbed her sister and squeezed her tightly. "None of this tsundere stuff, you're too much of a cat already."

"Looking good, hairball." Bakura commented, barely glancing at her. "Before you start with your battle plan, let's recap the rallied troops. We have four relatively worthless teenagers, me, That Imbecile, and a _cat._ Am I the only one slightly discouraged?"

"'That Imbecile', I'm flattered," Yami said drily.

"You're welcome."

"This is part of the reason why I came." Ishizu squirmed slightly in Marik's death grip. "You're not quite as useless as you seem to assume."

Ryou seemed to agree with Bakura for once. "We're going up against someone malicious, powerful, and sneaky- they tried to kill us at Marik's hotel room."

"Thanks to my quick reflexes, we survived!" Marik said smugly.

"And now I smell like Coke." Yugi winced.

"Wait, what?" Amane demanded. "They just tried to _kill_ you?"

"Tried being the operative word," Ryou said desperately.

"Nah, it's the thought that counts," Bakura shook his head.

"How do we know _you're_ not behind all this?" Amane rounded on him furiously. "You've definitely got motive." Bakura just gave her a sardonic look.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I was a bit- how should I put this?- 'out of it' back then."

Ryou put a hand on Amane's arm. "Let it go. We can trust him."

Bakura looked offended. "No you can't!"

"That's it- where's that ring?" Amane growled.

Ryou thought for a second. "Um... I... thought I was still wearing it."

"And now we've come back to the matter at hand," Ishizu said frostily. "This is the very reason that we have an advantage, however sparing. Simply put, we've 'absorbed' the Items, which means that we get the powers from them."

"Cool, I can brainwash people!" Marik giggled.

"What about mine?" Yugi looked slightly doubtful. "As far as I know, Yami is the only power the Puzzle ever had."

"See? _Someone_ appreciates me." Yami smirked condescendingly at Bakura, who ignored him.

"Hmmm," he said thoughtfully, "You've got a point, Yugi. Maybe you got a sadistic sense of righteousness and penchant for overlong speeches- oh, wait, that's still him."

"You want to talk _sadistic_?" Yami crossed his arms sourly. "Spare me, I've got more on you than you'd even dream of blaming me for."

Yugi raised a hand slightly, giving Ishizu an even more doubtful look. "Maybe it would be better if we took this up again tomorrow? It's been a long and overly weird day, and it'll be late by the time you all get home."

Ryou yawned in agreement, and things went downhill from there.

* * *

Yugi couldn't sleep. He still couldn't figure out what the powers were supposed to be on the Millennium puzzle. There were the Shadow Games, sure, everyone had those. Maybe he would just be really good at card games? Or puzzles or something?

_As if that's going to help,_ he thought, rolling over onto his side.

Yami couldn't sleep. _It's perfect timing, isn't it? I thought Ryou had that idiot under control, but noooo, he comes out as a whole other person! Why him? Why couldn't someone vaguely sane be resurrected?_ As he thought of the reason for that insanity, a doubt tapped at the back of his mind, a fear that he couldn't quite put a name on. Wasn't there someone missing from this? He dropped the thought uneasily, trying once more to count jackals jumping over a crumbling stone wall. _Probably just paranoia. Or maybe Ryou again, he's so quiet I just never notice him._

Ryou couldn't sleep. The source of all his problems was now out of his hair (or, more accurately, his head): Bakura. That was his one tie to all of this mess, to Ishizu, to the Millennium Items...

To his friends.

_There's the real problem,_ he thought anxiously. _You can't just get rid of one thing- namely me- and keep something else. _Maybe if Bakura was just gone again? It was certainly a relief to not have that particular worry lingering literally in the back of his mind. _The cards are coming out on the table, soon nobody will be in defense mode. Am I the last one left sitting down?_

Ishizu couldn't sleep. She knew that whatever command she had over these people was fragile at best, and they were disorganized by nature. The catalyst would probably change over time, getting worse and worse until nothing was right. The Millennium Items were sealing back a truly terrible power- without those seals, life would be obliterated faster than you could say "Alosersayswhat_?" _Ishizu sighed heavily. _It would have to be teenagers, wouldn't it._

Amane couldn't sleep. Her brother was back to normal, all well and good, but what about Bakura? On one hand, she knew from experience how horrible he could be, but on the other hand he could have changed. Ryou had. Bakura hadn't addressed her much more than that fleeting hello; how would he act around her normally?

Bakura couldn't sleep. Part of him didn't want to miss a single second of actually having a head all to himself, and the rest of him sort of missed _not_ being all alone in his shell. He shuddered when he remembered the time in between, that nagging feeling of having your consciousness fade away as you were mixed in with someone else. Somehow it was almost... Familiar. _Well, that's over now, and not going to happen again if I can help it._ Of course, that would mean helping Ishizu, Pharaoh and co., but that didn't seem all that bad anymore. _ I wonder why I don't hate him as much?_ he thought curiously. _Something changed when I left that body._ A face flashed into his mind, one that he'd been thinking of for a long while. Those delicate features, that caring smile... He shook his head, trying to bring to mind when he'd last called something "delicate". _Something definitely changed._

Marik slept. She was tired, and had a warm fuzzy cat sleeping on her stomach. You just don't stay up when cats are with you.


	19. Blur

**A/N: Bow before my self control- I was watching YGOTAS while I was writing, and it's sooooo hard not to make sarcastic comments every five seconds...**

They were going to meet at about noon at the game shop, since that was the one place everyone knew how to get to. Yugi was worried about whether he should get some lunch ready until Ryou called and said he was bringing some. Yami of course insisted that they make some and "show the little brat a thing or two about cooking", but Yugi reminded him that it was Ryou who had offered, not Bakura.

Of course, that didn't mean Bakura wasn't going to help.

"Can I cut those apples?" Bakura pointed at the fruit curiously. He was leaning against the door of the kitchen as Ryou and Amane bustled around preparing things.

"No." Ryou grabbed a knife and began cutting.

"Can I hard-boil the eggs?"

"Nope." Amane plunked down the pot and started the burner.

"Can I-"

"NO!" The siblings stopped what they were doing to glare at him for a second.

"We're _working_, Spawn of Satan." Amane opened the fridge with righteous anger and dropped several eggs into the now boiling water.

"Really, we've got everything covered." Ryou turned back to the fruit.

_Cheh- try to be diplomatic for once in your life..._ Bakura rolled his eyes and snatched Ryou's knife. "Oh for Ra's sake, give me that." He twirled it expertly, and threw a fresh apple into the air. _ChchchchchKA-THUNK. _Slamming the knife into the cutting board defiantly, he gave them both a smug grin over the perfectly quartered and cored apple.

He cut an entire fruit plate before the eggs were done.

With Bakura busy cutting and Amane getting the plate organized and saran wrapped, Ryou went out to get juice.

"Cheese next." Bakura held out his hand, and Amane hit him in the head with a block of cheddar. "OW!"

"Oops," she said smoothly, pulling the eggs out with a strainer and not sounding sorry in the least.

Bakura scowled at her, but started slicing the orange cheese. Amane started making deviled eggs and glanced over. "Pass the salt?"

Bakura grinned nastily, and before she could move he tossed some in her hair as he handed her the container. "Sorry," he sing-songed.

She growled, and hurled a spoonful of egg yolk at him. He froze, turning slightly.

"That was my _hair!_" He pelted her with the leftover apple cores.

"Didn't stop _you_!" She wrapped a handful of egg shells in saran wrap and threw it at him.

"I've got more of it!" The knife almost went across the room, but he opted for a spoon instead.

"No fair, that was metal!" The salt shaker went flying.

"And that was plastic!" A handful of strawberry stems.

"Oh so you want to get _wet_ then?" Amane threw open the freezer and began chucking ice cubes.

"That's not wet, that's effing freezing!" Bakura ransacked the pantry and began throwing poptarts like shuriken.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY KITCHEN?" Ryou screamed.

They froze, Amane about to throw a package of frozen peas and Bakura holding an entire loaf of bread.

"You- clean." Ryou pointed menacingly at Bakura, then turned to his sister. "You- go buy more poptarts. And milk, I think we're out of milk."

He stormed off to his room and slammed the door.

"The poptarts were wrapped," Bakura said slowly, "We can just put them back in the box."

"I saw some ice cream in the freezer." Amane rubbed her arm awkwardly and began gathering the shiny plastic packages. "I've never seen Ryou angry before..."

"There's a reason for that." Bakura picked up the trash can and silently thanked Amane for wrapping the eggshells. "Whenever he got angry, it was always me people would see. That mind of his can get a little bit scary."

For a second, Amane forgot that she was talking to an evil spirit that had been living in her brother's head for most of his life. "How scary?"

Bakura paused, staring pensively at an ice cube. "I... You shouldn't..." He sighed, pitching it into the sink. "Sometimes, I think I took over for your sake more than mine."

"Why would you do that?" Amane looked at him wide-eyed.

"You're his sister, you love him. He loved you back, and sharing a mind with someone- well, emotions tend to mix together."

"You... loved me?"

"No!" Bakura said forcefully, giving her a sour look. "I hated you."

He grabbed the salt shaker out of her hand, and Amane looked after him. Neither of them mentioned the exchange, but Amane casually brushed the eggs out of Bakura's hair on their way out.


	20. My fault

**A/N: If anybody doesn't know, Speed is a card game. PM me for the rules, if you'd like.**

"Okay, everyone's here!" Yugi closed the door behind his final guest, Marik holding Ishizu over her shoulder.

"Great." Bakura jumped off of the counter and clapped his hands eagerly. "Now we can plan our gruesome deaths together. By all means, let's start!"

"Can't we just plan _your_ gruesome death?" Yami slid down the banister with a wave to Marik.

"Yes, lets." Amane started clearing up the game of Speed she'd been playing with Yugi.

"ENOUGH!" Ishizu hissed. "We've taken too much time already. We must find the catalyst soon. Ryou-" She looked intensely at her target. "You can use the Ring's power to do so."

"Right!" Ryou was fairly sure he remembered his darker half doing something like that before; the memories that had been erased were starting to come back. He closed his eyes solemnly and concentrated.

There was a long pause.

"Um... How?"

Amane held her face in her hand, zipping her purse closed on the deck of cards. "We're dead. We are sooooo dead."

"I suppose that's my fault," Bakura sighed. "Here- lemme show you." He walked over next to Ryou. "Normally you'd hold the Ring out, but I guess this'll have to do." He put out his hand, palm up, fingers splayed. "And then the rest just sort of... See, there it goes." A glowing eye appeared in the middle of his hand, and his fingertips shone with the same eerie golden light. Ryou pulled back with a yelp, and Bakura let his hand fall, stopping the glow.

"How did you do that?" Ryou stared fearfully at his dark twin, who crossed his arms.

"Just try it. Mine doesn't do the whole finding-apocalyptic-magic thing. I just nearly sealed your soul into that chair."

"Right." Ryou gave him a wary look. "So I just put my hand out like this and it _magically_- YAAAH, yes it does!" Ryou grabbed his wrist like his hand was now a poisonous scorpion. "S-so what now?"

Bakura was the only one with experience in using the Millennium Ring, so he coached Ryou through it. "Just concentrate on finding something out of the ordinary. It's like feeling your way around a dark room."

"Okay..." Ryou looked dully at his hand, as if not really seeing it. "Huh. That's... That's really weird."

"Did you find it?" Ishizu pressed urgently.

"No... But I know where the other items are. We have four here, one's in Egypt, but two are close by, moving around.

"Two?" Marik frowned. "All three should be with Shadi."

"Let's go out on a limb here and say that 'should' no longer applies to anything," Bakura said drily. "At all."

"This is bad." Ryou closed his eyes and the glow brightened. "Someone _really_ evil has one of them. The other one... Oh. It's just-" His eyes snapped open. "Augh, I can't tell." His hand curled into a fist, and the glow disappeared. He looked ruefully about the room. "Sorry, that's all I've got."

"I think we have something else to worry about," Amane concluded. "Whoever has those two Items needs to be taken care of."

"They both do," Ryou added broodingly. "The second one didn't seem very evil, so we probably won't have much of a problem there. The first, though, I'd be willing to bet he's behind all of this."

"Great job, Scooby, now how do we find that second person?" Bakura demanded.

"Easy!" Ryou held up his hand again and it glowed ominously. "I just said I don't know _who_ they are. Finding out _where_ they are is a piece of cake."


	21. I repent

**A/N: Phew! Finally finished, I'm uploading both the Friday and Sunday chapters now since I'm going to be out of town and probably internet over the weekend. Hope you like them!**

They were probably the strangest group of teenagers that had ever wandered the streets of Domino City- Ryou at the front, staring intently at his gently glowing palm; Marik just behind him peering over his shoulder; Yami and Yugi, nearly identical, talking over what kinds of super powers they probably had; and finally, Bakura and Amane bringing up the rear.

"I don't think I like him being in front," Bakura glowered. Amane elbowed him.

"You just don't like him being able to do something you can't."

"You know what I _would_ like?" Bakura turned angrily, "Fixing your soul to a baseball and hurling you at windows, that's what."

"Very creative." Amane acted casual about it, but pulled back, staring ahead coldly.

Bakura looked at his hand thoughtfully. He and Ryou had almost been merged into one person, and they were sharing a Millennium item; surely that would leave some kind of link...

His fingertips shone, and he felt a familiar presence in the back of his mind, followed swiftly by a ripple of surprise.

_Miss me?_ Bakura thought, suppressing a smile.

_[What are you- How did you get inside my head again?]_ Ryou looked back and saw Bakura still behind him, who winked conspiratorially.

_Trade secret._

_ [Wow. I can't believe this is the first time we've actually talked alone to each other...]_

_ I suppose you want me gone?_

_ [No, not really; I'm a bit curious. It's funny, we've been sharing a head for nearly a decade and I still don't know what you're like.]_

Bakura was slightly taken aback. He'd expected all sorts of lovely emotions to be floating around in Ryou's reaction- malice, resentment, fear, anger. Instead, all he could feel was a shy interest, like someone staring at you from across the room.

_If you're so curious, why don't you just take a look?_

_ [I wouldn't want to pry. I'd much rather learn what you're willing to tell me and go from there.]_

Involuntarily, Bakura started opening up, partly out of surprise and partly because Ryou was the first person to treat him like this.

Like a friend.

Neither of them were really expecting it, so when Ryou suddenly fell into Bakura's mind, it took a second or two to get him out. Bakura could see disjointed memories pouring into his former host as the boy scrambled for an exit, all the while screaming _[I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!]_ Frigid winters, heart-stopping chases, Bakura's last seconds of normal life, and a more recent memory that even Bakura himself had trouble coming to terms with. Finally, with a savage tug and a frantic push, they were separate again.

Bakura scowled, tore apart their link, and found Amane looking at him strangely.

"What was that about? You kind of spaced out."

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"About what?"

"How I'd like to kill you," Bakura replied coolly. "I'm debating slow, repeated cuts from a hot sword as opposed to drowning wrapped in barbed wire while being eaten alive by sharks."

"That's really annoying, you know."

"What, being eaten by sharks? You're right, they have such awkwardly placed mouths..."

"No, how you always clam up and act all intimidating whenever someone opens up to you." Amane started walking backwards so she could look at him. "You'd better take open hands while you can, 'cause someday one of them is going to slap you."

"Is that a threat?" Bakura's eyes narrowed.

"Ohh, but it's tempting." Amane rolled her eyes back and gave a sultry little laugh, twirling about to walk next to Bakura again. "What I wouldn't give to plant a good roundhouse on that smug little face of yours."

There was another thing he hadn't been expecting. Bakura shivered slightly, from something distinctly unlike fear.

"Wait a minute." Yugi frowned, tapping Ryou on the shoulder. "This looks familiar."

"Don't tell me..." Yami's eyes widened as he saw the house in front of them.

"Please let it be Mokuba," Yugi sighed, staring up at the leviathan that was Seto Kaiba's mansion.

They pulled open the gate and walked timidly up the driveway. Finally, all of them ended up huddling behind Yugi in front of the door.

"You do it," Marik poked him.

"Nuh-uh!" Yugi shook his head vigorously. "Yami, why don't you?"

"Bakura maybe?"

"I'll arm wrestle you for it."

"Oh, please." Amane rolled her eyes and rang the doorbell. "The guy doesn't get dressed until noon on a good day, how bad could it be?"

The door opened with a horror-movie creak, revealing a scrawny brunette. He couldn't have been more than ten years old, arms crossed furiously across his small chest and eyes glowing with unbridled rage. Amane took an uncertain step back, mumbling something like _"I repent-" _but the boy pointed squarely at Yami.

"_You_-" Seto Kaiba glowered, "Have some explaining to do."


	22. Hissy Fit

**A/N: Well, I think that about covers all the stereotypical manga plots. (I.E, protagonist turns into girl/child/animal)  
**

"That would certainly make sense," Kaiba said after they had finished telling him everything. He traced the rim of his coffee cup idly. He hadn't offered anyone else one. No one had asked.

After they made sure that he was actually Seto and not some cousin or other with a strange sense of humor, the group found their way to the kitchen table since Kaiba didn't really have a living room.

"Not 'would', it's the truth," Ishizu insisted.

"Then what about your offer? Did you really get ahold of another Item and leave me a little surprise?" Kaiba asked sourly.

"What's he talking about?" Marik gave Ishizu a wary look.

"Nothing!" Ishizu, if it's possible, looked mildly guilty. "I was desperate and you weren't listening and I... I lied and told him I would get him a Millennium Item if he helped."

"Which I refused," Kaiba reminded her.

"Ishizu, what is _wrong_ with you?" Marik hollered.

"Wouldn't it be a little more progressive to figure out what's wrong with _me_?" Kaiba offered.

"Easy," Yami shrugged. "You actually got a Millennium Item somehow, and since this catalyst thing is wandering around, _bam_, you're a ten year old. Something weird happened to all of us, and we got the powers from our Items."

Kaiba suddenly looked interested, so Ryou explained. "Let's see, you're... You can read minds!" He suddenly looked a little scared.

"Great," Bakura huffed, "Just what we need, a mind reading gajillionaire brat."

Kaiba stared at him for a second, and his eyes flashed yellow. Suddenly, he broke out laughing at what he found.

"Hahahaaaa! Where did _that_ come from? You- Seriously? Noooo, you can't really- You honestly...? Ha- ahaha..."

"Shut. UP," Bakura snarled.

"What did you see?" Ryou asked defensively, and suddenly Bakura knew that Kaiba shared whatever secret Ryou had pried from his head.

"Will you people stop reading my mind!" he shouted.

The rest of the party, completely out of the mind-reading loop, were staring at the three blankly.

"...is this a boy thing?" Amane asked slowly.

"No, it's a Bakura thing." Marik patted her hand gently, and Amane gave her a strange look.

"Y'know, it's kind of hard to imagine that you were a guy."

"Hey, a little estrogen changes a man," Marik shrugged.

"That, and a 34 C."

"That too."

Ryou cleared his throat. "Let's move along, shall we?"

"Please!" Yugi replied instantly.

"Well, I suppose I can help you now that there's something in it for me." Kaiba looked up from the tablecloth. "What's your plan now?"

Ryou punched his open hand eagerly. "With you accounted for, I can get started on that catalyst." He concentrated for a second, and Bakura resisted the temptation to poke into his former host's mind again.

"Strange. I'm still just getting- No, wait- There. That's the problem."

"What is?" Marik asked quickly.

"Err..." Ryou bit his lip. "You're not going to like it."

"I don't like any of this. _What's the problem_?"

"It's in someone's mind."

Yami groaned and Marik smacked his forehead. Ishizu, however, seemed almost pleased. "Easier than I'd thought! It should actually be very simple. Bakura can put souls into things, so it should be no problem to put them into other people."

There was a short silence.

"Who with the what now?" Marik asked.

Ishizu struggled for an analogy. "Picture this. We are all computers."

Marik nodded.

"Our souls are text documents."

Marik nodded more slowly.

"And the Millennium Ring is like a USB fob."

"...you lost me there."

Ishizu sighed.

"Didn't you see Inception?" Yugi asked incredulously.

Kaiba shrugged. "I think it makes perfect sense."

"Thank you!"

"And I'm pretty sure there isn't any other way to do it," Yugi added.

"I still haven't agreed to any of this," Bakura said slowly.

Everyone stared at him.

"Typical." Yami rolled his eyes. "Throwing a hissy fit right when we need him."

"I'm not throwing a hissy fit, I just don't see why I should help," Bakura replied indifferently. "The way I see it, I'm better off running around on my own than relying on that pansy for room and board." He gestured at Ryou, who looked somewhere in between offense and surprise. Bakura smirked. "See, he knows what I'm talking about. Even I start to feel the strain if I have to come out at night all the time. There's just not enough room for two people in there, especially for someone like me. So since I rather like this arrangement as it is, I don't think I'll be helping you any time soon."

Kaiba started toying with his sleeves. "I may be three feet tall, but I have no intention of staying like that; there is _no_ way in hell that I'd let you walk away from us."

Bakura hissed something in a language far older than he was. "Ahr shassa niaosss, na'astun. You know _nothing_ of hell."

"Oh, _real_ impressive, Mr. I-can-speak-a-dead-language," Marik scoffed. "Aon kusso kadu'us. Try that around people who _haven't_ studied Ancient Egyptian for about their whole lives." She paused. "Gotta say, though, I didn't think there was a word for 'n00b'."

"I'm sure we could figure something out if you help us," Yugi insisted. "There's probably a way to get everyone else back to normal except you."

Yami coughed apologetically. "...Yeah, that- that's not how that works."

"You're wasting your time." Bakura studied the table with mild disinterest.

"Then why are you still here?" Amane challenged. "Walk out that door, if you're so much better than us. I'll even point you where you want to go, just get out of our lives so we can work around you until you're ready to grow up and sit at the big kid's table."

Bakura laughed drily. "Them's _fightin'_ words from someone who only just pulled up a chair."

"Fine time to be hypocritical." Yami raised an eyebrow. "If I recall correctly, you weren't on our side at all until about a day ago."

Up until this point, Ryou had been glancing anxiously between people, as if he wanted to say something but wasn't sure who he should speak after. Finally, he tucked his hand behind his back and tried to open his link with Bakura. Bakura acted as if nothing was happening, but responded nonetheless.

_WHAT._

_ [We need you, you know.]_

There was something strangely endearing about it, Bakura thought. No subterfuge, no threatening, just a frank statement. He was finding Ryou increasingly hard to get angry at.

_Yeah? Bit late for that. You heard what I said, and I'm sticking by it._

_ [Things will be different.]_

It's impossible to lie to someone who can read your mind. You can't even _think_ about lying. Bakura was tempted to make wild accusations anyway, but once again didn't have it in him.

_[I promise.]_

_You need to be more underhanded, I'm starting to trust you too much,_ Bakura thought, half to himself. "Fine." He tore off the link, and scowled at a wall. "If it'll make you all shut up for half a second."

"Right, then!" Ishizu jumped up onto the table looking as relieved as a cat can. "It's time to finish this once and for all. Ryou, whose mind is the catalyst in?"

Ryou stared silently at his hands, now clasped in front of him.

"Ryou?"

He muttered something.

"_Ryou!_"

"Amane," he whispered.

Amane jerked back sharply; she was already in over her head "_What? _No way! That's- I'm- Look, I'm not evil, guys!"

"I didn't say you were," Ryou said quickly. "Just that the catalyst is hiding in your mind. Someone could have put it there at any time, provided they were close enough and they had the one variable here."

"The Millennium Key." Marik nodded grimly. "In the wrong hands- or, the right ones, that could easily make a catalyst in someone's mind."

"It's behind a lot of defenses." Ryou frowned slightly. "We're not going to have an easy time of getting to it."

"What kinds of defenses?" Yugi asked warily.

Ryou bit his lip. "Look at it this way- if I handed you a cake, you'd be able to tell if it had frosting on it, right?"

"...right." Yugi raised an eyebrow, not seeing where this was going.

"But you wouldn't be able to tell what flavor it was, would you?"

"Oh."

"Let's get this over with." Bakura cracked his knuckles and got to his feet. "All this talk about cake is making me hungry. Alright, who's going first?"

Dead silence.

"You seem _very_ eager to be on with this, why don't you start?" Yami suggested cheerfully. Bakura rolled his eyes.

"Because I can't bring people in after myself?"

"That reminds me-" Marik made a worried face. "How are we going to get out of Amane's head once we're in?"

"I dunno, didn't you manage that sort of thing once?" Bakura gestured vaguely at Yugi and Yami with disinterest. He'd never given much thought to undoing whatever havoc he wrought; mostly he just did whatever was easiest and moved on.

"Yes, and it was hard, so you're going to do it this time," Yami said adamantly.

"Once again, I ask you- who is going first?" Bakura leaned on the table with one straight arm, holding his other hand outstretched; his face was dominated by the same crazed grin he wore whenever he was planning to stab someone in the back.

"I'll go."

Everyone stared at Ryou who, without a second's hesitation clasped Bakura's hand tightly. Bakura paused a second, giving him a look of faint trepidation. Ryou smiled. "I trust you."

A blinding gold flash hid Bakura's brief look of shock, and Ryou collapsed to the table. Bakura's cold demeanor instantly returned, and he gestured around. "Next?"


	23. Hold on to your soul

Ryou floated alone in the darkness. _Am I dead?_ he wondered briefly. He couldn't feel anything, couldn't see anything- _I bet this is what astronauts feel like with their eyes closed!_ he thought giddily. There was something about the abyss that made him want to close his eyes and go to sleep- maybe for a minute or two, or ten, or forever.

_"WAIT, STOP- I'M LOSING HIM!"_ came an incredibly loud voice. Ryou flinched, amazed at how someone could sound like that without even shouting. Slowly, like a spoon through half-thawed ice cream, he remembered that he was inside someone's mind, and struggled to reach out to whoever it was. He caught what was, in the strange, vague terms of incorporeality, an outstretched hand, and suddenly found himself staring out in surprise at his friends.

"Bakura?" Marik prompted.

"Uh...?" Ryou replied confusedly.

_OI!_ a voice in his head cried indignantly. _Here I am getting all stressed at you and you go and possess me._

"Oh... Sorry," Ryou muttered aloud, letting himself slip into the background. The world faded away as Bakura took control.

_Just stay put, keep yourself together, and don't do that again._

[I thought you were going to put me into Amane's mind?] Ryou asked. Bakura's answer came as Yugi slowly materialized next to Ryou.

_I figured that we'll all want to rally in one place first, so we don't get caught off guard by whatever 'frosting' is waiting for us. Since I'm the first link of the chain, so to speak, we start here._

[Ah.]

As Ryou collected his thoughts, the darkness didn't seem so cloying anymore; it looked almost superficial now, a thin layer hiding whatever lay beneath. _Beneath..._ Ryou thought. Gingerly, he brushed at a patch of the shadows, and for half a second he was sucked into Bakura's memories.

_The sand was warm and silky beneath his feet, unrelenting sun bouncing off his thick puff of hair. He jumped from shadow to shadow between the towering buildings of his village, avoiding the more molten spots in the light, and eventually approaching his goal: a little ball of knotted cloth. "Pass it here!" a voice came from behind him. He nodded, swiveled on one foot, and tossed the ball to-_

The memory dissolved, leaving Ryou staring off into space.

_Right,_ came Bakura's voice. _Everybody ready?_

Ryou glanced around, seeing everyone floating around him- well, everyone except Amane and Bakura. A quiet murmur of agreement echoed around, though Ryou didn't actually hear anyone speak.

_Alright, hold on to your souls, it's going to be rough._

The only word Ryou could use to describe what came after was "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" It was like being electrocuted, drowned. and ripped into a thousand pieces all at once; then being put together and fried even more until there's nothing left but ashes, ashes that swish and swirl in the water you're still drowning in, leaving you a muddy slush of a person.

And then it stopped.

"Ow," Kaiba summarized.

Marik started coughing. "W-what was _that?_"

"Told you it'd be rough." Bakura was already standing, brushing himself off. "This isn't the Millennium Key we're using, the Ring gets finicky sometimes. Aw, get up, you're fine."

Ryou was immensely relieved to find that this was true. He slowly got to his feet, expecting to fall into a million bits again, but found that he wasn't even sore. "Everyone make it through?" he asked anxiously. There was a quick roll call and they found that no one had been lost.

"There's no way to get Amane here?" Yugi looked mildly worried.

"That part's up to her." Bakura shrugged. "Unless she can figure out how to pull herself back into her subconscious- or fall asleep and conveniently develop a talent for lucid dreaming- then we'll have to go without her."

"Doesn't seem very likely," Yami said grimly. "So what next?"

"Now that we're here," Ryou broke in, "I can find the barriers, which means I can find the catalyst." He held out a glowing hand, and everyone gave a slight sigh of relief that their Items still worked. "Seven in total, with sort of a signature at the front. We have to- I hope I'm translating this right- 'Face the power of the burdens we have shouldered.'"

"Wonder what _that_ means," Marik stifled a yawn.

"Most likely something to do with the Millennium Items," Ishizu suggested solemnly. "We should proceed with caution."

Nobody made a move.

Bakura sighed heavily. "I'll go first."


	24. Just checking

**A/N: Okay, I'm going out on a huge limb here, but let's just assume that my poorly put-together gibberish is how Ancient Egyptian was pronounced.**

At first, their surroundings was literally featureless. An amorphous gray surrounded the eight, and it was hard to tell ground from sky. Soon enough, the landscape started to take shape around them, like fog clearing. First smooth stone floors, then towering walls, and finally dusky ceilings. Vivid carvings and gold murals flashed into view, and Yami shivered.

"It's a tomb," he explained, catching everyones' weird looks. Suddenly he paused, staring solemnly at a set of hieroglyphs on one wall. "_Our_ tomb."

"Somehow that just doesn't sound very imposing having heard it before." Bakura rolled his eyes. He wasn't the least bit uncomfortable in Egyptian tombs, and not afraid to show it.

"Can you tell what we're coming up against first?" Yugi tapped Ryou on the shoulder gently.

"Not really," Ryou admitted. "The only reason I knew so much right off the bat was because of the signature. I can sort of tell direction and number, but not specifics. It's like closing your eyes and trying to count how many people are in a room just from their voices."

"The more there are, the harder it is-" Marik nodded sympathetically, "And the less you can understand of each."

Ryou smiled. "Exactly. But if I've got it right, we should be coming up on the first one right about-"

** "AUSSA!"**

They all took a step back.

Blocking the corridor before them was what looked to be a giant statue. Its skin was black as volcanic rock, and it was heavily laden with gold jewelry. A linen kilt covered its carved muscular legs, and its ornate crown sat atop a jackal head. The word had come from its wide, canine mouth, a maw filled with brilliant white teeth that looked every bit as sharp as the pike staff it was carrying.

"...now," Ryou whimpered.

"That was ancient Egyptian." Marik frowned.

"What did it say?" Yugi prompted.

"Didn't quite catch it, I'm a _bit_ distracted right now."

Yami and Bakura seemed to know all too well.

"Care to do the honors, O Great Pharaoh?" Bakura held out a gracious arm.

"Not really." Yami stared up numbly at the giant statue. "I think my horoscope said something about avoiding sentient statuary." Bakura rolled his eyes and stepped up to the statue.

"Big baby... Zama'alas, nakoss Anubis. Pri nahid'ma toshke slenav?" His voice came out smooth and clear, like he'd spoken the language all his life. Which, of course, he had.

Since he didn't seem likely to translate for his companions, Yami started to for him. "He's asking if we can get by. Oi, Bakura, why can't you be that polite all the time?"

"Because nobody else is ten feet tall with razor sharp teeth," Bakura muttered under his breath.

The statue was unimpressed. "DAMEROSS KA'ALAN, BAKURA. SOCANDLE KI MOY'ATALA RUSHESHEI."

"Ouch- Uh, he just called Bakura a good for nothing beggar," Yami said as Bakura tried a different tactic.

"Niskaa... Dor'mis malatan skinaiv'k a seteirunli." He gestured at Yami, who was still stifling a laugh at the statue's insult. "Sati'ima soss Pharaoh Atem. Kazish-" This time, Kaiba, then Ishizu. "-Uaio Seto skasei Ishizu. Nali pharaoh nokalo sati'ima."

"Basically, calling on various authority figures." Yami looked like he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or flattered at being included. "He says he's 'loyal to the pharaoh and his priests'."

"SATI'IMA... SHUZO, NOKAILAS VRITOF. KASO, NIHUNJO HASUYLA DO'AIIN AMMIT, HAHAHAHA!" As the statue finished, he stalked on ahead, beckoning for them to follow. With a certain amount of trepidation, they continued, Bakura translating the last line as they went.

"'Loyal, eh? In that case, you may pass. Although, you may still face the teeth of Ammit.'"

"Isn't Ammit that monster thing that eats peoples' hearts?" Yugi asked doubtfully. There was a grim silence in response. "Right. Just checking."


	25. Kawaii

**A/N: Gadzooks, something is actually _happening_!**

They followed the Anubis statue to a wide, sweeping hall lit with torches. At one end, there was an ornate throne with a green-skinned stone pharaoh. Set into the flagstones before them, a giant gold scale towered, glistening red in the flickery light.

Marik's eyes widened. "I've seen this before! This is the weighing of the souls. See, over there's Osiris, here's Anubis, and- and we're-"

"We are the ones to be weighed," Ishizu finished solemnly. Yami frowned.

"Wait a minute, then where's-"

_HISSSSS..._

A bloodcurdling noise came from a gaping hole behind the scale, and up from the darkness crawled a monster that was quite literally straight from hell. Its alligator head was the size of a full-grown person, covered in thick scaly hide that tapered into a lion's mane and chest. Paws the size of dinner plates made little clicking noises when their claws hit the ground, but the creature's back half looked even more out of place than the front; the fur faded into olive-brown skin, stumpy round legs, and a tiny tail.

But since the beast looked like it could swallow a person whole, no one was laughing that it was part hippo.

"Ammit the Devourer," Marik whispered.

"ZA'ALE HAUSU!" Anubis boomed.

"He's saying to listen to him," Bakura took over translating.

"I'TEVAIA N'LAUTSANKH NAT ZANA A SHAN."

"This is a test of good and evil."

"KALIVEN'DOSS KESS NAR RAKLASDA KACHA MA'AT."

"We'll each have our hearts weighed against the feather of Ma'at."

"DEMI'IRU OKASHTHE ZANA, SA ABEIT NAS KANAROF. "

"Whoever's judged as good can go."

"OKASHTHE SHAN..." Anubis laughed nastily, and Ammit snapped its jaws.

"...I think you can guess what happens to evildoers," Bakura said mildly.

Marik eyed Anubis suspiciously. "He's enjoying this way too much for an ambivalent judge." Ishizu flicked her ears back and forth, the equivalent of a shrug.

"This barrier was made by whoever constructed the Catalyst. It can't be impassable, but it _can_ be prejudiced to extreme difficulty."

"ZASA, AUTUYO..." Anubis pointed dramatically at Marik, who went pale.

"Marik, you're up," Bakura took a step back. "He just called you Tombkeeper, which is probably good."

Marik gulped, stepping up to the scale. Anubis gestured for her to step onto one end, and she reluctantly clambered up. The giant statue pulled a necklace from around his neck, unthreading the pendant. It was a carved gold feather, no bigger than a cell phone, and it looked even smaller in its keeper's massive hand.

"Oh, no _way_!" Marik started to climb off the scale, but Ammit hissed at her and she slowly returned. "This was stupid, this was stupid, stupid, stupid..."

"OKASTHE AUTUYO MARIK!" Anubis declared, placing the feather opposite his captive. It stood on end, perfectly balanced, and slowly the scale began to tip.

Marik didn't quite make it _above_ halfway, but apparently that was enough. Anubis lifted her carefully off the platform, which fell to the ground with a solid THUNK.

"OKASHTHAS ZANA," he proclaimed.

"Ahaha..." Marik laughed nervously.

"ASA!" Anubis gestured to Yugi, who stiffened before edging carefully around Ammit to the scale. He sat cross-legged on the plate and looked uneasily at the feather.

There was a deafening clang as its side hit the floor.

"Woah," Marik said.

"ZANA," Anubis laughed, pulling Yugi off the scale.

Things went uphill from there. Kaiba only got a little higher than Marik, Ishizu barely topping him. Yami measured closer to Yugi, and Ryou stopped almost as high. Finally it was Bakura's turn.

Ryou looked more worried than Bakura did. "Isn't there any way to, um, skip him or something?"

Yami repeated the question in Egyptian.

"KALIVEN OKASTHAD." Anubis shook his head.

"He says we all have to pass the test," Bakura translated calmly. Ryou reached out to stop him.

"But you-"

"My soul is just _fine_, thankyouverymuch." Bakura glared at him, narrowing his eyes. "Anyway, why should _you_ care?"

Bakura crossed the room quickly. Ryou was fairly certain his doppelganger wouldn't pass the weighing of souls, but was even more sure that he had a trick up his sleeve to avoid the penalty. This would probably involve sabotaging the feather, or switching places with Ryou...

...or running at the last minute straight for Ammit.

Ammit had been sort of the elephant in the corner throughout the proceedings. It sometimes seemed to talk to Anubis with a low guttural growl, but hadn't spoken Japanese or Egyptian at all. No one would look at it in fear of provoking the wrong response. So when Bakura started _petting it_, everyone took a second to react.

"Oh yes you're such a good _girl_, yes you are, _yes you aaaare... _Awww you're so _cute!_"

Ryou wasn't even sure if it was Bakura talking, his voice was so saccharine sweet. And, even more amazing, instead of pulling Bakura's head off, Ammit rolled over onto its back for more petting.

"AUSSA'LA, _AUSSA'LA!_" Anubis stalked towards them with a hand outstretched, but Ammit growled and he backed off. Yami looked nervously between them.

"Bakura, cut it out, he's getting mad."

"What do I care?" Bakura, now elbow-deep in Ammit's mane, returned to his puppy talk. "Who's a good girl_, coochicoochicooo!_"

"AUSSA, IHU'U! KATE IRU NA AMKE OKASTHE."

Bakura grinned nastily. "Nahiu chi kust? Ammit kaore stlu navimostas, cashia montilu."

Marik stifled a laugh, and Yami went very, very pale. Anubis roared in protest and smashed a shallow hole in the ground. "Time to go!" the pharaoh said hastily.

"Would I be a total idiot for asking why?" Yugi asked.

"That numbskull just called the lord of the dead a flea-bitten mongrel. It's time to go."

"Who's polite _now_, big boy?" Bakura made a rude gesture at the world in general.

Ishizu led everyone carefully around the edge of the room, since Anubis was sufficiently distracted by now. The walls began to fade into that old nondescript gray, and the last thing the group saw of the Millenium Scale room was Anubis picking Bakura up by the back of his shirt and Ammit getting angrily to her feet.


	26. Gold

**A/N: Nooo, not Bakura! T_T**

"Keep up!" Ishizu prompted. Ryou looked visibly shaken, and Yugi still glanced back every now and then. Marik collared both of them good-naturedly.

"Come on, don't get so down about it!" she said cheerfully. "He went out like anyone would have wanted to. A snarky comment on his lips, and an adorable animal at his feet."

"You call that thing cute?" Yami gave her a Look.

"Well, no, but he did."

"He's _gone,_" Ryou whispered. "And he still hated me." Yugi patted his shoulder.

"Some people just don't change..."

"It was so funny," Ryou laughed softly. "He never would admit that he needed me."

Yugi frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Where else would he go?" Ryou explained absently. "He honestly doesn't _have_ anybody else."

Around them, a room was starting to take shape. Its walls were smooth and black, like tinted glass, and it looked more like a corridor than a single room. As they continued, fiery letters started to take shape in front of them.

"'Welcome to the Millennium Maze'," Kaiba read aloud, the words disappearing as he did. "At least this one's more polite than the last."

"Maze?" Marik asked, slightly puzzled. "What does it mean by-"

The group faltered as the corridor split into two sections.

"Oh."

"No choice other than to keep going," Yami shrugged. "So, right or left?"

"Right," Ryou piped up abruptly, pointing across the hall. Everyone stared at him for a second, and he looked a little embarrassed. "It's- It's a classic dungeon trope. If you're stuck in a maze, always turn right. That way when you hit a dead end, you just backtrack and take the left tunnel instead."

Remembering Ryou's passion for RPGs, they figured that he'd know more about dungeons than anyone else. This strategy seemed to work okay- at least they weren't coming on any dead ends- and for a while, the only problem they encountered was boredom.

It was a welcome annoyance.

Ryou had unconsciously taken the lead, making quick, nervous turns as if scared that someone would question him. With someone to lead the way, though, people fell into the strained familiarity of conversation.

"C'mon, you _know_ this wouldn't have been the first time!" Marik punched Yami on the shoulder amiably. Yami rolled his eyes.

"That wasn't real. Ammit and Anubis wouldn't actually _fight._"

"Still, though, who do you think would win?"

Ryou hastily tuned this conversation out, as if its outcome would determine the reality.

"...got to be awkward, though." Kaiba was chatting absently with Ishizu, whom he had draped over his tiny shoulder. "I would at least want to wear one of those kitschy sweater things they have for dogs."

"At the moment, it's definitely awkward. Imagine what this would be like if I were human right now."

Kaiba gently put her down.

"Hey." Yugi tapped Ryou on the shoulder. "Are you...?"

"Fine." Ryou smiled reassuringly and quickened his pace, slowing to a stop when he saw a dead end. "Hmm. Time to turn back."

"Uh," Marik said doubtfully. She was the first to see that behind them was another dead end.

Kaiba groaned, clutching his hair frustratedly. "We don't have time for this!"

"Maybe this is another Item instead of just part of... whatever this is."

Ishizu sniffed the air delicately, then nodded. "Yes, Kaiba's I believe."

Ryou gave her an incredulous look. "You can smell them?"

"Maybe _you_ can't, but cats do have their perks."

Feeling a little jealous, Ryou took an experimental breath, then blinked confusedly. "Oranges!" he blurted out.

Ishizu flicked back her ears, miffed that he'd stolen her trick.

The smell grew stronger, not particularly pleasant nor actively painful. It seemed to collect in the air itself, until it spelled out three sentences in shimmery gold letters.

_Time to face your fears_

_Suspicions lurking inside_

_Pray your trust is strong._

It dissipated into a faint golden haze, and Marik muttered something about hating Haikus. The haze clustered around each of them in glittering columns, finishing in a set of six ghostly mirror images.

_"Frankly, I don't care what happens to the rest of you as long as __**I**__ get out alive,"_ the golden Kaiba said abruptly. _"It's not like you people matter to me."_ Seeing Kaiba's own indignant glare at the towering figure, everyone guessed that this wasn't his opinion. The other silhouettes, however, nodded in approval. _"If it really came down to it, I'm by far the best duelist here. I can't __**wait**__ for a challenge when I get to take one of you down- or all of you at once! Because honestly, I __**would**__ win."_

_ "It's so hard keeping track of such a motley group of brats." _ Gold Ishizu sighed heavily, seemingly on a different train of thought than Gold Kaiba._ "I wish you'd all just stayed out of my business so I could get things done for once. Someone is always getting in the way, and I'm just tired of it! Keep your noses to yourself, people."_

_ "I wonder what would happen if I just left?"_ Gold Yami took the spotlight abruptly. _"Would you all simply die? You sure wouldn't be able to accomplish anything. I'm the one who does allll the work, and I'm feeling __**very**__ unappreciated right now. Oh, there was a time when the title of Pharaoh __**meant**__ something. Now I'm just backup when things start going to pieces."_

Gold Marik paused to let out a very evil laugh. _"Surely you didn't think I got lost in translation, did you? That darling little boy is crazy as a catfish, and you're all going to suffer for it when he suddenly takes a swan dive off the deep end and strangles you in your sleep. He doesn't need your help- he's just waiting for an opportunity to slaughter you all."_

_ "It's not like I __**want**__ to kill you,"_ Gold Ryou started off apologetically. _"But the Other me does, and He's the one in control, you know. I might try and keep him in check, but it's too hard. Besides, if I had to pick sides in a battle between him and you, then, well..."_

For a second, it looked like the golden Yugi was going to say something, but it seemed to choke on its words, finally disappearing into nothingness. It was then that everyone noticed that Yugi was trembling slightly, fists clenched by his waist, arms held straight, and eyes screwed shut in a scowl.

"You know what I _hate_?" he said through clenched teeth. Anger seethed through every word of his speech, and Ryou at least was profoundly glad that the fury seemed to target the gold specters instead of their living counterparts. "Condescending. Idiots. Even worse are the ones that complain about their own personality flaws. You say that we're a burden to you? Wait, wait, what's that sound- oh yeah. It's the _world's tiniest violin_! If you stopped and thought about it with the half a brain cell I'm sure you possess, you'd realize that we're supporting you as much as you're supporting us." His eyes opened suddenly, and he blinked as something dawned on him. "That's what this is about, isn't it? Getting us to realize that we need each other."

The golden smoke was gone, and Yugi's friends were giving him mildly fearful looks.

"No," Marik said tentatively, "I think that was about you learning how to get pissed off."


	27. Dopplegangers

**A/N: Couple of OCs here. I thought them up a while ago, and as of yet there's no real story behind them since I can't really think of a plot for it, but if you want I can post the little backstory I jotted down. (Okay, I'll shut up now.)**

"Here we go again," Kaiba remarked with a sigh. They had been walking for what seemed like several minutes, turning right indefinitely. Again they had come upon a dead end, and again it had turned into a room.

"Look on the bright side, it wasn't that bad last time!" Yugi tried and failed to smile reassuringly. The arguments of their golden replicas had been shoddy at best, but they still took their toll, casting doubt on everyone. Kaiba got reckless when he hit his stride, and still wasn't quite their friend despite Yugi's best efforts. Ishizu was an entirely unknown quantity, but seemed fed up enough with the group's antics to leave them behind if need be. Yami _probably_ wouldn't leave them. But things worked differently in this alternate world, and the promise of independence if he ditched might be too enticing to pass up. _Everyone_ had their doubts about Bakura, sometimes tending more towards open malice, and Marik... Well, Marik was Marik. He was _mostly_ sane _most_ of the time. Yugi himself was the only one that nobody thought twice about trusting; Ryou would also be trustworthy, but he and Bakura were a package deal.

Ryou was oblivious to this dilemma that seemed to be on everyone else's mind. "It looks like Ishizu's this time, so we'll have to watch out for... Future... Stuff." He gestured wildly, and got an "Ishizu-cat is not amused" look.

"As well as things from the past," Ishizu added. "In fact, judging by how things have been going recently, I would be surprised not to encounter both."

Suddenly, eight figures shimmered into view, looking considerably confused. Three looked older than twenty, and the other half seemed barely into high school. One of each age group seemed to have a twin in the other.

Kaiba gave Ishizu a disapproving look. "You _had_ to say it, didn't you?"

On the far left, there was a graceful woman swathed in a flowing white dress and heavy jewelry. Her coffee-colored face held a look of unconditional benevolence, though a spark of power shimmered behind her eyes. A light hood was drawn over her head, but her raven hair was just barely visible beneath it.

Next to her stood what seemed to be her teenaged version, but the resemblance was only barely visible. Her skin was several shades lighter, more caramel than coffee, and her eyes flashed with gleeful mischief. She held her head high with confidence, short black hair feathering around her face. Around her ample chest was strapped a dark blue tank top with myriad embroidered stars. This ended in a ruffle at her lower ribs, revealing a lightly muscled midriff that was abruptly interrupted by a pair of indigo jean shorts clinging to her hips. Her legs were long and slender, and she wore a pair of surprisingly plain sandals with a butterfly toe ring.

"I... _think_ that's a familiar face." Marik glanced between Ishizu and the teen, his eyes finally settling on the more conservative woman. "_She_ at least looks kind of like you."

Third in line was a rather imposing man, towering over everyone mostly because of his hat. It was sort of like the crown of Lower Egypt* with the top sliced off, and was a sky-blue color. Beneath this was a mass of gold accents, from a pair of jutting gold crests around his curving jaw to a carved serpent at the front of the hat. Beneath the elaborate accessory, his brow was scrunched in a slight scowl, and his mouth pressed into a tight line. Over a long linen kilt and under an even longer white cape, he had a blue tabard with gold accents and ankh at the very center of his chest.

The younger version seemed a little plain after the ostentatious elder. His hair was long and straight, trailing barely past his shoulders and tapering over his back. With unnaturally pale skin, his dark, baleful eyes seemed a stark contrast, as well as his clothing. He wore a loose black jacket and a white buttoned shirt that hung far over his baggy gray slacks. Around his neck was a dog tag chain, wrapped until it was tight against his throat.

"That- No." Kaiba looked personally insulted at the pair. "I would _never_ wear that ridiculous hat. And the other one looks like somebody from My Chemical Romance."

Fifth was easily identifiable to everyone there. A thick circlet barely checked his spiky black hair, and was overcome by a set of blonde bangs that shaded his lavender eyes and tanned face. His shoulders and part of his clothes were covered by of a heavy purple cloak that trailed just above his heels. His clothes were rather plain, a sleeveless white shirt and a matching kilt with a blue stripe down the front, but the treasure trove of gold jewelry ruined any modesty the cloth might have given. Bracelets, armbands, a double-ringed belt, a traditional collar as well as one that covered his neck, a banded sleeve that covered his entire calf, and even a pair of spiked shoulder pads. This was very, very definitely a king. Or, pharaoh, to be exact.

Again, the younger one looked very little like the other. His dark hair was cropped short, poofing out behind a beanie with a kuriboh ironed onto the front. The usual jagged bangs poked out from underneath. It was hard to tell what his physique was like, since he had donned a baggy sweatshirt and jeans that looked a size too big. In fact, the only part of his skin exposed was his face, flashing with amiable curiosity.

Yugi gasped at number five. "It's you!" he hissed to Yami, who nodded mutely.

The final two were an extremely scary man and a slightly less scary girl. The man would have been fairly tall if he wasn't slouched over; his white hair spiked out in all directions, spilling onto his shoulders with jagged irregularity. His eyes darted around the room, casting an air of mistrust and hatred on each person. A thin scar snaked down the right side of his face, but didn't seem to hurt his vision. He was wearing nothing but a red and gold robe over a plain white skirt, but accented the outfit with a number of scars and even more muscles.

The girl looked like she had gotten up that morning wanting to be goth, but lost interest halfway through. Eyeliner traced graceful curves around her dark purple eyes, and her ivory hair was pulled back in a pair of bunchy pigtails with Jack Skellington hairties. A number of thin black bracelets circled her left wrist, and her fingernails were painted alternating black and white like piano keys. Past that, she looked like she might as well have slept in the rest of her clothes. Her black T-shirt reading _Have you got a permit for that?_ was stretched tight at the top and left from there down to its own defenses, eventually bunching around the waist of her camo sweat pants. Finally, a raised eyebrow and mildly sardonic look gave the feeling that she didn't really care about much.

Ryou's eye started twitching as he stared in disbelief at the girl, and Ishizu gave him a smug look. "I hate to say I told you so, but..."

**A/N: *The crown of Lower Egypt looks kind of like a bowling pin, you can do an image search or just look up what Priest Seto looks like.**

**Yes, I did just spend an entire chapter describing characters. Deal.**


	28. Wonder

**A/N: Since I'm trailing off into third person omniscient a little, ^this^ is going to signify translated ancient Egyptian speech. Oh, and I'm publishing a day early. My fingers hurt now...  
**

"What the..." the white haired girl said slowly, trailing off into a silent swear word.

"Yeah," the younger Yugi twin agreed, looking up and down both lines of people. "This is _weird._"

"Very, but let's not panic," Marik said soothingly. She was the only one who didn't have a pair of doppelgangers, and decided that everyone else was probably too shocked to take charge. Half a second later, she realized with horror that she had no idea what exactly she was supposed to do. "Um... What... What are your names?" she said frantically, repeating it in ancient Egyptian. This kind of second grade introduction was strangely calming, and at least suppressed the initial panic.

"Zashi Isis." The woman on the far left gave Marik a doubtful smile, and she smiled back.

"Uhh. My name's Kanna," the next girl spluttered, staring openly at the woman.

"Na'ta oaio Seth," #3 frowned. "Warish kitalo sa?"

"Nahujo," Marik reassured him, glancing back at the rest of her party. "Um- Yeah, he's confused 'n all." She gestured to the fourth stranger, who cocked his head slightly, as if not sure if he was dreaming or not.

"I'm Shouji... Shou, I guess."

Marik nodded at Atem. "Kasin, Pharaoh." Atem looked slightly taken aback, but not really any more surprised than he had before. The next person jumped slightly as Marik looked at him.

"Oh! Um- I'm Naoki." He gave Yugi a strange look, and elbowed the scary man, who scowled.

"Che. Za Tozokou," he muttered.

"Hako," the last girl said abruptly, staring straight at Ryou. "Hako Bakura. Dad, how the hell are you a teenager?"

"...dad?" Ryou repeated limply.

"Are you me?" Naoki asked Yugi tentatively.

Yugi shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know."

And just like that, the tension disappeared. With nothing immediately obvious to do, conversation flowed quickly; after all, most people there had a lot in common. Yami and Atem started on a heavy discussion over jewelry ("I'd wear gold, but this complexion's more suited to black. What I wouldn't give to have a tan again..."), sounding a bit like teenaged girls; Isis and Seth descended on Ishizu with questions, for some reason assuming that a talking cat would be the most knowledgeable of the lot; Yugi began discussing games with his future self, finding out that Naoki apparently preferred war games to puzzles.

"So who are _you_ supposed to be dressed as?" Kaiba asked Shouji critically. The teenager knelt down to be eye level with Seto.

"Wow, you're kind of funny looking for an alien. I mean, I guess they'd want to look more human or something, but still, you look just like me when I was little!"

"I-" Kaiba wasn't sure how to respond to this. "I'm not an alien! And I'm definitely not you."

"_Shou!_" Kanna reprimanded. "Stop with the conspiracy jargon for one second of your life, dear brother, this is _obviously_ a dream."

"Brother?" Kaiba repeated. "But you're- And he-" He suddenly went pale and put a hand over his eyes. "L-let me guess... Your surnames are both Kaiba?"

They nodded.

"And- And your parents are Seto and Ishizu Kaiba?"

"See?" Shouji poked his sister gleefully, "Only aliens would know this much about us!"

"_Ishizu!_" Kaiba wailed, and Ishizu snapped to attention. Kaiba jerked his head to the two teenagers, eyes wide as saucers. "Meet our kids."

Ishizu nodded politely, and went back to describing the internet to Seth.

Meanwhile, Tozokou was interrogating Marik.

^So there's no way out?^ he questioned.

^Not right now,^ Marik explained. "There'll probably be one soon, I hope."

^Good. I've got things to do.^

^Things?^

^Oh, you know- murder, arson, grand theft.^ Tozokou counted them off on his fingers, acting nonchalant but surreptitiously glancing over for a reaction. Marik didn't disappoint.

^That's _horrible_! Who are you murdering?^

The thief gestured at Atem, and Marik nodded slowly. ^I can honestly say I was in the same boat not too long ago.^

Hako took a step towards Ryou.

"Dad?" she asked hesitantly. Ryou resisted the urge to back away.

"Uh... I guess so."

"Woah. That's so weird." She reached out and touched him on the arm, drawing her hand back after reassuring herself that he was real. "So... That's Tozo?" She stared at Tozokou, and Ryou followed her gaze.

"Who?"

"Tozokou," she repeated. Ryou gave her another blank look, and she frowned. "Come on, don't tell me you never met the spirit in the Ring, you practically introduced us!"

"Us? Wait-" He reached out to pull at Hako's shirt collar, then pulled back a little; she rolled her eyes and threaded out the Millennium Ring for him. His eyes widened. "So you _do_ have it!"

"Yeah, you gave it to me." She paused for a second. "Tozo says hi."

"He what?" Ryou's voice was thin and strangled. "You can hear him?"

"You're acting reeeeally weird, Dad." Hako smiled uncertainly, and Ryou decided to try a different approach.

"Let's just assume that I don't remember anything about... Anything that you know about me." This was probably true, and Hako nodded sharply.

"Alright. My name's Hako Bakura, and you're my father. You gave me the Millennium Ring after I asked for it on my 10th birthday. You said that it wanted to be with me, and I only found out afterward that you literally meant it. That's when I started to hear Tozo." She smirked faintly. "He hates it when I call him that. Anyway, he said I was the next generation of something or other. And that I should be a boy." Hearing Tozokou's irritated remarks to Marik, she looked slightly anxious. "I'm having a hard time believing that _that's_ him, it really doesn't sound like him."

"You could hear... 'Tozo', from the very beginning?" Ryou felt slightly jealous, though he wasn't sure of what.

"Well, no, there was sort of an awkward moment where he took over my body. He was really embarrassed when he found out I was a girl, but you thought it was funny as hell." She laughed at the memory, and in that instant Ryou caught a glimpse of something he would have killed for not so long ago. Hako's world was simple and fun, with adventures that didn't pull the world out from under your feet and ancient spirits that didn't want to kill your best friends.

But somehow it seemed too perfect.

"What's he like?" Ryou asked abruptly.

"Here, you can talk to him!" Hako closed her eyes, and her bangs spiked out from her head, the Millennium Ring glowing like a tiny star. When she opened her eyes, they were ruby red.

"Ryou," Bakura nodded.

"But you- died!" Ryou spluttered. "How is this possible?"

"To be honest, I've been asking myself that question for five thousand years," Bakura chuckled, holding up the Ring for inspection. "So, mind telling me what's going on?"

It struck Ryou that maybe these people _weren't_ from the future. Or at least, from an alternate one where Bakura was still around. It would also explain why Bakura wouldn't remember anything from Amane's mind.

He was about to say what he'd come up with, but realized that that was far more complicated than the original theory.

"Um. Past, present and future reincarnations of people are all here.

"Ah. I wondered why I looked familiar." Bakura looked Tozokou up and down critically, then glanced over to Naoki. "I see Yugi's hair hasn't improved. Then again, that kind of thing lasts millennia." His- er, _her_- gaze snapped back to Ryou with surprising speed. "What was that about me dying?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Ryou put on an innocent expression that could have convinced the king of England to let him borrow the royal jewels.

"Don't give me that look, what did you mean?" Bakura demanded. Ryou remembered with a wince that the best of his tricks didn't work against people who had seen the inside of his head, and sighed.

"Fine. You're probably not from the future, because a few minutes ago I saw you die. It's nothing for you to worry about, though-"

Bakura hugged him. It was a strange sensation; Ryou's senses told him he was being hugged by a girl, but at the same time knew that it wasn't a girl at all.

"I'm so sorry," Bakura whispered. "I can't even imagine what it would be like to see _you_ die."

Too perfect.

Part of Ryou wanted to break down in tears, but the rest of him had learned a thing or two recently. Watching Yugi and Yami duel, it was obvious that the two were opposite halves of the same person- why wouldn't the same be true for him and Bakura? This new, strange inhabitant of the Millennium Ring was more like Ryou than Bakura had ever been, and Ryou wasn't sure if he liked it.

"Thank you." Ryou gently dislodged his friend. "Sadly, you won't need to; I'm sure you'll outlive me."

Bakura gave him a gauging look. "You're sure you're fine?"

"Yes."

"Well. Hako wants to talk to you- I guess this is goodbye."

And before Ryou knew what to say, he was staring at Hako again. A very, very angry Hako.

"That idiot needs to stop hugging people without warning me," she muttered sourly. "It _is_ my body after all!"

Up until this point, Tozokou had been occupied by Marik's smalltalk, but since the tombkeeper's dialect of ancient Egyptian was rather stuffy compared to Tozokou's, the latter finally grew bored and tapped Atem on the shoulder.

^Oi. Triangle-head.^

Atem started to jerk back, but Tozokou caught the front of his shirt and held him off the ground. ^H-heheh. It's been a while, huh?^

Ryou glanced over and winced. There was something fundamentally wrong about him, any version of him, roughing up any incarnation of Yugi.

^Let me _down_-^

^Not so tough without those big beasties, are ya?^

It made his stomach turn, this violence simply for the sake of violence, and he could feel his face twisting into a scowl in response.

^I could say the same for you,^ Atem growled, and Tozokou realized that Diabound wasn't behind him as usual. It didn't seem to faze him, though.

^See, that's the difference between the two of us. You have to hide behind armies and monsters and magic, but me? Me, I can kill you with my bare hands. I just think having the accouterments is fun.^

Ryou didn't even know what was being said, but he didn't have to. With a muffled roar, he punched Tozokou squarely in the head; Tozokou dropped Atem and swayed on one foot precariously before recovering and fixing Ryou with a murderous stare. ^Idiot,^ he spat.

Ryou was absolutely terrified- Tozokou looked like he wrestled bears and ate rusty nails for breakfast- but he stood between the thief and Atem anyway. "No. I- I don't care if you're my friend in your future, this is wrong!"

^What's he saying?^ Tozokou asked Marik offhandedly. Marik looked between them fearfully.

^He- Uh-^

^Just shut up if you're not going to tell me,^ Tozokou said impatiently, giving Ryou a thoughtful smirk. ^So. You're me, are you?^

Ryou put up his fist defensively, and Tozokou laughed.

^Stop that, it's not like you could beat me anyway.^ He looked Ryou up and down critically. ^Hmph. What kind of a reincarnation has hair like that? And by Ra, do you ever eat?^ He seemed to have completely forgotten his quarrel with Atem, and started picking at Ryou's clothes and limbs, tsking at this and snickering at that. Ryou yelped and pulled away, but Tozokou grabbed him again roughly. ^...skin's like bloody _alabaster;_ no, maybe papyrus, there's nothing under it is there? I'm glad I'm royalty in the future, because there's no way you've done a day of work in your life.^

Hako slapped Tozokou's hand away. "Hey, save the harassment for people who want it!"

Ryou turned bright pink. "Hako, you-"

She gave him an impish grin. "If this _is_ a dream, I might as well make the best of it. If not, well, screw the space-time-continuum, he's _hot!_"

Tozokou grabbed Hako's chin and held her face up for inspection. ^Cheh, you're no better, and a _girl_ as well-^

She leaned up and kissed him.

"Hako, _no!_" Naoki looked devastated.

Marik mirrored his expression. "Oh, we're _screwed_!"

The two pulled away, and Tozokou stared at Hako. ^But you sure can kiss.^ He glanced over at Ryou. ^I wonder...^


	29. Priceless

It turned out that they had had to beat their past and/or future versions in mortal combat (which Hako found out _completely_ by accident after Tozokou tried to kiss Ryou); this turned out to be easier than it sounded, since Naoki had the bright idea of surrendering instead of fighting it out. After they had returned to the grey void, it was hard to tell distance or time with no distinguishable landmarks.

"Can we at least stop for breath or something?" Marik groaned.

"I'm half your size, you don't hear me complaining," Kaiba replied mildly.

"It _does_ seem like we've been walking for a while." Yugi really didn't know how long they'd been walking.

"Come to think of it, how much time has passed in the real world?" Yami asked no one in particular. "If I remember correctly, time for us will travel... faster? So we won't have been lying unconscious in Seto Kaiba's kitchen for the last hour or so?"

"It's different for each case," Ishizu said vaguely. "But I'm fairly sure that-"

"Hold it." Ryou stopped abruptly, and Ishizu ended up threaded awkwardly through Kaiba's legs, which was as close as she could get to bumping into somebody. "It's right here."

Now that they knew something was coming, the very air seemed charged, ready to ignite at a moment's notice. Danger was only a breath away.

Silence.

"Um, Ryou-"

"Give it a minute."

"**GRRRRRRRRRRRRR-"** Out of the shadows came a low, muscled form. Its teeth glistened dully in a nonexistant light, its skin seeming to burn with vibrant colors. Dark emerald scales covered its head, a ghostly white mane bristling around its neck. Thick golden fur covered its lithe front half, and its thick back feet stomped the ground angrily. Since last they had seen it, it seemed to have grown several hundred pounds larger, now closer to the size of an elephant than a bengal tiger.

None of them had really seen Ammit up close before, so it was, if possible, even more terrifying the second time.

"Oh, _crap_," Marik swore decisively.

Yami gulped. "Well said."

Yugi took a step back. "How the- How are we supposed to-"

Ammit suddenly glowed brilliantly, and everyone shut their eyes as gold burst up through the gray. One by one, they rubbed the spots from their vision and stared at the person now standing before them.

"_Priceless!_" Bakura laughed madly. "Ha- ahaha- You should have seen your faces!"


	30. Spork

**A/N: This next part kind of needs you to have seen Season 0, so I won't blame you if you don't get the reference at the end and in the next chapter. I'll explain it in a special chapter if you'd like, just tell me.**

Ryou glanced over at Bakura concernedly; Marik had taken over navigating. While everyone had wanted to know what had happened, Ryou was the only one to ask if Bakura was all right. Bakura had, of course, responded with a husky "Mmm," but gave Ryou a strange little smirk before explaining his escape.

"It's really simple, actually. Everything around us is a construct of the Millennium Key, which means it doesn't really exist, not how most people think of existing. This world is based in Amane's soul room, which we can interact with because we're souls. Apparently someone is keeping close tabs on us, because each part of the world disappears completely when we leave it. I just sealed my soul into Ammit before she could dissipate, and popped up in the room that was slotted for my Millennium Item since that's pretty much the only thing here I have a connection with. When I stopped possessing her, she-" He made a wiggly gesture- "and I appeared here because souls have physical presence in soul rooms."

There was a short silence.

"Cool!"

"What?"

"Showoff."

And so they continued turning right again and again. The only noise was Kaiba and Ishizu's hushed conversation, and it was as if no one could think of anything to say.

Well, almost.

_Hey,_ Ryou heard a faint voice, and opened up to it easily. Bakura's sarcasm had never sounded sweeter. _Spare a minute?_

_[Yes, do- Do you, um... I mean... What happened back there?]_

_ Nothing bad. That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about._

_ [Oh!]_ Ryou glanced around to see if anyone noticed his obvious reaction, but they all seemed lost in thought themselves.

_Remember how you said things could be better?_

_ [...yeah.]_ Ryou had said that in the heat of the moment, but was sure he could at least try to back it up.

_I think I believe you now._

A slow, hopeful smile blossomed over Ryou's face. _[R-really?]_

_ Yeah. I think I can meet you a little more than halfway for something like this._

Bakura faded from Ryou's mind, and Ryou resisted the urge to turn and face him. For the first time in this crazy adventure, he felt like things would somehow turn out alright. When he thought about it, Ryou found that this whole thing could go completely wrong and he would be fine with it, as long as he got the chance to start over with Bakura.

"Well, this looks important." Kaiba's bored voice drew Ryou out of his thoughts. They had come to a stop in front of a huge double doorway, laced with gold and silver runes. The edges trailed off into black and white pencil sketching, as if it weren't quite finished yet.

"This is it," Ryou said quietly, "This is the last one."

"Finally," Yami smirked.

"Maybe we can actually spend some time with your sister after this," Yugi laughed.

"Aww..." Marik pouted and poked at her boobs. "I'm gonna miss these guys."

"At last, things can go back to normal." Ishizu looked relieved.

Bakura pointed at the door. "Where's the handle?"

Dead silence.

"Um..."

"Maybe it pushes in?"

Bakura stormed up to the door, eyeing it for a second. "I'll give it a push alright," he smirked.

"I wouldn't do that-" Yugi warned, but Bakura already had his running start and rammed his shoulder into it.

"OWWWWWWWW!" he screamed. "Ican'tfeelmyarmIcan'tfeelmyarmIcan'tfeelmyarm****ing God **** mother **** hippopotamus ****..."

"Let me see," Ryou rushed over, ignoring the door and gently feeling over Bakura's shoulder. "I don't think it's broken, probably just bruised-"

"Whoever made this door shall rot in the shadow realm at the mercy of a thousand demons until I am bored enough to crush them into OBLIVION!" Bakura pointed at the door accusingly, and it almost seemed embarrassed. "And then bring them back to life so that I may chop them into tiny pieces with a spork and feed them to sharks, which I will then throw into the center of a volcano! AND YOU'RE NEXT, DOOR!"

"I'll take pictures," Marik offered.

"Why a spork?" Ryou asked, mystified.

"Because somebody already used spoons."

Ishizu inspected the door carefully, wrinkling her nose. "We're so close... I can't figure out why it won't let us through."

"Maybe that has something to do with it." Kaiba pointed back to the way they had come, which seemed to no longer exist. It was as if someone had built a wall there, drenched it in black paint, covered that in tar, and sprinkled coal dust over the top. This emptiness looked almost actively evil, like it was going to reach out and grab someone. It also looked very opaque, and very distinctly unlike a path.

Ryou felt his heart begin to race. His skin flashed hot and cold, and he felt a familiar stabbing pain that was somehow outside and in his chest at the same time. He clutched his shirt, remembering faintly the first time this had happened- how he'd stared into the cracked mirror and wondered where the voice was coming from, the voice that sounded so very, very familiar. How he'd stared in the mirror at himself and met the gaze of a person that wasn't him.

Panicking, his eyes flickered to Bakura, who gave him a blank look. Ryou doubled over as a fresh ring of pain sliced between his ribs. _What's happening to me... This is just like before, except he's already free... So why..._

"Ryou, what's wrong?" Yugi tried to hold Ryou up, but this doesn't quite work when you're Yugi's size. Ryou could feel the Millennium Ring struggling against his will, and instinctively tried to block it out, fearing more than ever what would happen if he lost control. Finally, he closed his eyes and fell to his knees, just as everything stopped. All that was left was a single overpowering sensation.

His left hand was throbbing.

"I..." Ryou whispered, "Will fight... Too..."

"What is it?" Bakura demanded urgently, and Ryou stood up instantly.

"No time to explain. Goodbye."

With that, he stepped into the darkness, which vanished without a trace.


	31. Handy

Ryou wasn't sure if his eyes were open. He couldn't see anything, and his surroundings felt strangely cold. Artificial though, like air conditioning.

_I'm so glad you came!_ came a tiny, extremely relieved voice. _I couldn't really say anything, so I had to use what I found in your head._

"It got my attention, at least," Ryou admitted. "But next time, could you use a memory that's a little less... Painful?"

_Sorry. I wasn't sure what would explain the most. Are you ready?_

"I think so."

_ You don't sound very sure._

"If you want me to be sure, then no, I'm not ready."

The voice sighed. _Guess that's the best I'm going to get. Good luck, okay? And go fast! I'm not sure how much time I can give you, hopefully enough to undo whatever's wrong with him._

"Thank you." As Ryou said this last word, he realized that his eyes _were_ closed; light was now seeping in through their lids, a dull reddish, and he looked around.

He was standing in the center of a crumbling ruin. Buildings of thick sandstone bricks stood half-deconstructed, pathways of the same material leading away into infinity. Sand permeated every inch of the place, blowing in the light wind and stinging Ryou's eyes. "What am I here for..." he murmured, genuinely wondering. He knew that Bakura was trapped, but that was about it; he had no idea where he was, or how it was important to freeing Bakura. Idly, he scratched the back of his head-

-and froze.

Ryou was not an overly twitchy person. If nervous, impatient, or even bored he found it more productive to let his mind wander rather than his hands. But for some reason, perhaps because he now felt nervous, impatient _and_ bored, it was impossible to hold still. He lowered his left hand and stared at it for a second. _He_ wasn't twitchy, but maybe someone else was.

"Hello?"

It waved at him. He hadn't really expected an answer, and his eyes widened. "Is- is that you?"

There was sort of a tingly feeling in the hand, like laughter. "Um. Sorry. Is it me?"

There was a faint throbbing pain, which Ryou took to be a yes. He raised an eyebrow. "Is it also... Not me?"

Another throb, and the tingly feeling again. Ryou smiled slightly. "I guess that's some help."

The hand made an "Eh," gesture, and Ryou flinched. "Don't... do that," he said weakly. "Please, _please_ don't do that." The hand dropped loosely by Ryou's side again. Ryou closed his eyes, thinking more carefully of where to begin. The ruin he now recognized from Bakura's memories, but how would a picture from the past and someone else's left hand help him piece together this puzzle?

"No, no, there must be a reason he's twitchy," Ryou reasoned, thinking aloud since he was sure that no one would hear him. "Something about the room, something... bad?"

_Throb._

"Okay, so there's something wrong with this picture."

_Throb._

"But I don't know what, so that's where you come in?"

_Throb._

"Oookay," Ryou sighed. "I take it back, have at it. Take the whole arm."

His left arm shot up, perpendicular to his body, and reached for the nearest wall. Ryou followed it, letting the hand trace the surface gently and finally settle on the top. Ryou felt a strange jab of pain in his chest again, and the wall began to change.


	32. Kittens

**A/N: Meanwhiiiile...**

"Erk-" Bakura stiffened. Everyone stopped and stared, nervous after Ryou's disappearance. Bakura stood perfectly still, staring into the distance like a deer in the headlights. "I feel like waaaffles..."

"Um, Bakura? Are you okay?" Marik asked gently, and Bakura's head snapped to attention with a stormy scowl.

"None of your business!" he snarled, then suddenly looked surprised. "I- I'm sorry-" He shook his head roughly. "Wait, no I'm not. It's all your fault. All of it!"

"What are you talking about?" Marik asked incredulously. Bakura waved his hands frantically.

"No, no, I didn't mean that, I meant, I meant, um- Aww man... H-heheh..." He started laughing wildly, and Yami and Yugi exchanged glances.

"That's it, he finally snapped," Yami said triumphantly.

"Shut up, I hate you!" Bakura was grinning insanely around his laughter. "You and your little host, too!"

"What's going on?" Marik turned to Ishizu, who blinked slowly.

"Someone has very little experience with the Millennium Key," she said quietly.

Bakura finally held still. He was leaning over clutching his stomach, almost facing the ground. His outline blurred for a second, and suddenly Ryou was standing next to him, wobbling on one foot.

"Phew! That was weird," he panted.

"You're telling me," Bakura grumbled. "I didn't think you remembered Monster World."

"Not only do I remember it, I haven't forgiven you for it," Ryou said mildly, crossing his arms. "Stupid thing went all the way through my hand, that surgery wasn't fun or cheap." Bakura looked up grimly.

"I suppose you expect me to say thank you for fixing me?"

"Not really," Ryou sighed.

"Wrong as usual." Bakura straightened and held out his hand formally. "Thank you."

Ryou stared at Bakura for a second, taking his hand and shaking it cautiously. "You're welcome."

"...can one of you explain what just happened?" Kaiba asked in a voice that doesn't take no (and might not even take yes) for an answer.

Ryou and Bakura exchanged glances. Bakura pointed at Ryou, who grimaced.

"Um... Okay, someone was keying around in his room and his buildings got all knocked down and then my left arm wasn't mine anymore so I had to go fix his head so the giant door isn't not ready yet. Long story short, he's all better now!" He glanced over at Bakura, dropping the matter as if that had explained everything. "How's that shoulder, by the way?"

"Fine, thanks."

One of Marik's eyes was twitching, and Kaiba had a hand over his face. "Forget I asked..."

Bakura patted Ryou on the shoulder, looking at Kaiba grimly. "Give him a minute, my mind isn't exactly a healthy place. Trust me, I know."

"Kittens!" Ryou giggled hysterically. Bakura paled and slapped a hand over his twin's mouth.

"A_hem_, yes, moving on!" he coughed loudly. "What he meant to say is something like this. Whoever set up this little Rube Goldberg maze has the Millennium Key, and either this was one of the tests or we're getting dangerously close to the center of things. They messed with my head a little, so that I forgot a key piece of information in moving us forward."

"So we're stuck, then?" Yami summarized.

"No. Conveniently enough, there was that portal here a minute ago, which Ryou slipped through after he was called by a rather personal memory which I am _not_ going to tell to you." He said this last point louder as he saw Marik start to ask about it. Ryou pried his hand off, apparently having sobered up a little.

"He means when he stabbed my hand with a plastic tower and tried to kill all of my friends. At the time, that left hand was the only part of me I could control. Right now, since I'm the active soul in my body, he was the one controlling the hand when the memory started... Um... Memorying, whatever you call it."

"Yes, thank you," Bakura continued dejectedly. "Basically, something called him through using that, and he fixed everything. Somehow."

They waited for Ryou to explain, but Ryou hesitated. Something told him that if he mentioned the small voice, it might not be able to help them again.

And so, he put on his best _Who, me?_ look, and shrugged innocently. "Don't ask me, it just came naturally."

"You're going to have to do better than that-" Yami was leaning heavily against the door, which now looked completely finished. "-because this isn't budging."

"After all that?" Yugi protested.

"Oh, right!" Bakura said suddenly. "I forgot. We still have one Item left. Mine."

"Any idea how to get that over with?" Yami turned to face him, crossing his arms. "If it's anything to do with you, I'm sure we'll want to be through quickly."

"For your safety, I'm going to pretend that I am temporarily deaf. What I forgot was how to operate the Millennium Ring, so we just have to bring somebody in, right?" said Bakura, as if this were perfectly obvious.

"What makes you say that?" Marik raised an eyebrow.

"What _else_ does the stupid thing do?" Bakura griped. "I mean, I appreciate the benefits of sealing someone's soul inside an inanimate object as much as the next person, but after a while it just gets _old_! Why can't it shoot lasers or something? Or maybe marshmallows."

"Don't be ridiculous," Ishizu hissed.

"Fear my laser marshmallows!"

Yami clouted him on the head. "Quit messing around and do your stuff already."

"I can't exactly 'do my stuff' if there's nobody to seal in, can I?" Bakura crossed his arms back at Yami, whose eyes narrowed.

"Why not Amane?" Ryou suggested. Bakura glared at him.

"No. I refuse."

"What?"

"I said I refuse. Anyone but her. I will literally find and kidnap Mokuba just so I can bring someone else instead of her." He looked almost excited about this prospect. "Say the word, I swear I will."

"Not only do we not have the time for that," Kaiba pointed out, "We'd waste even more time explaining all this to him. Amane is the only person who knows anything about what's going on. I know you said it wouldn't work, but at least try it." Bakura let out a long, dramatic sigh.

"Fine."

His outline glowed faintly gold, and Amane slowly flickered into view before the door, wobbling slightly. Ryou grabbed her elbow, and she looked around at everyone confusedly. "...am I dreaming?" she asked faintly.

"The magic 8 ball of penguiny blueness says yes," Yami announced. Everyone stared at him, and he shrugged. "What?"


	33. End boss

**A/N: Short, but you get one tomorrow.**

"We should be able to open the door now." Ishizu was staring back at them patiently from the doorway.

"Um. Forgive me for being a little lost here, but..." Amane protested weakly.

"You remember my games, right?" Ryou started to explain.

"Yeah, kill stuff, go through a maze maybe, end boss, princess and treasure, etc etc. Why?"

"This is the end boss."

"Don't tell me this makes me the princess," Amane groaned. "She always seemed like such an idiot to me. I mean, if there's a sword of +6 Dragonslaying right there in the treasure room with her, why not fight her way out?"

"I think I wrote one where that happened," Ryou frowned.

"You did," Bakura agreed, "I made a whole set of figurines just for that scenario. You should play it sometime, I think they get bored."

"Moving on," Marik said tactfully. "Looks like we can finish this thing once and for all. Care to do the honors, O masters of the dungeon?"

Ryou and Bakura stepped forward, each pushing in one of the gigantic doors. There was a monumentally loud creak, and light poured from within. Framed in the indefinite white glow was a small silhouette, barely large enough for a child.

"Ahh," Mokuba chuckled, "It seems I have underestimated you. How delightful."


	34. And now for something

**A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNNNNN! Who would've guessed?**

"Oh _hell_ no!"

**Cuuut...**

"You have to be f*cking kidding me!

**Kaiba-**

"It's not enough that you made me a cynical old man trapped in a six-year-old body, now you drag Mokuba into it too? With _that_ cliché'd opening line?"

**Look, I was running out of options, okay? Who am I supposed to use, Téa?**

"That could work."

**Hardy-har-har.**

"And what's with the oh-so-subtle Trustshipping? I've met Ishizu, what, twice in my lifetime?"

**How do you even know that word?**

"You looked it up."

**Curses, I forgot, the fourth wall was the only thing keeping my omnipotency from working both ways.**

"Damn straight!"

"And while we're at it, why am I so whiny?"

**Don't take it personally, Marik, you've been under a lot of stress and I figured it would be understandable.**

"Bad enough you made me a girl..."

"By the way, can I have more lines? I _am_ the main character."

**Not no mores, Yugi.**

"W-what?"

**I said you're not the main character anymore. Ryou is.**

"Has anyone seen my costume, we're on in five- oh, hello Yugi, what are you talking about?"

"Y-you're the main character?"

"Why, yes I am."

"NOOOOOOO!"

**Deal with it, short stuff. 'Kura, have anything to add?**

"Don't call me that, and I hate you. I'm the great Thief King, you have no right to make me fall in love with someone!"

**Noted.**

"I mean, you could at least make it clear who, exactly, I'm falling in love with."**  
**

"Also, the coffee machine's broken in the greenroom."

** Thanks, Yami. Wait, did you remember to plug it in?**

"Did I what now?"

***sigh* That's it, I'm wrapping this up for general safety reasons.**

"Don't believe a word of it, it's all lies!"

**Shut up, Mokuba.**


	35. No, wait

**A/N: We now return to your previously scheduled reading. Oh, btw, I lied about Marik. :D  
**

"Mokuba?" Kaiba asked incredulously. "What are you doing here?"

"Actually, I'm not." Mokuba took a step forward, and Kaiba was immediately reminded of how short he was now. "Mokuba is safely tucked away in the recesses of his mind, with no way to get to us here. I'll have no further use for him once we're through here, but don't worry, he'll be safe until then. Even I know better than to let my host come into harm's way." He grinned wickedly at Bakura. "Something I'm sure you can relate to, thief."

Bakura scowled, and Ryou looked between them. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh yes, he was always so very _careful_ with you, Ryou," Mokuba said disdainfully. "At first I'll admit I wondered why, but I wasn't fully awake when he learned his lesson."

Bakura looked shaken, his breath seizing up as he remembered what Mokuba was talking about. "Never..." he said shakily, closing his eyes, "Never talk about that."

"Why?" Mokuba smirked insolently. "You can't honestly tell me that you regret it, considering what you think of the dear mortal-"

"I SAID NO!" Bakura screamed, throwing himself at the tiny boy. Mokuba held up a hand, and Bakura suddenly hung struggling in midair, reaching for Mokuba with possessed fury.

"You forget," Mokuba sighed, "That I am in control here."

"_You're_ in control?" Amane snorted. "It's my brain, isn't it?"

"That's essentially saying that because you gave me the canvas, it's your painting," Mokuba explained calmly, ignoring Bakura's swiping hands. "I have the power of the Millennium Key at the disposal. Not only is this world subject to my whim, but so are you."

"He's bluffing," Ishizu announced. "Only the Rod can bend your will to his."

Marik stuck her tongue out, and Mokuba frowned at her. "Nevermind what I can and cannot do, that's not what we're here for. I am a fair entity, if nothing else, so I will give you the chance to fight for your pathetic existence."

"Who are you?" Amane asked uncertainly.

"Why don't you ask your dear friend," Mokuba suggested, floating Bakura back with the rest of his group and setting him down gently. "He's the most well acquainted with me, probably out of anyone on Earth."

Bakura looked like he wanted to try to tackle Mokuba again, but only clenched his fists. "He's the ultimate demon of the shadow realm, the driving force behind the Millennium Items' power, and the only reason I'm still alive in this era. That..." His voice was shaking, but his hand was steady as he raised it to point at Mokuba. "That is Zorc Necropha-"

"No, wait," Yami protested, "Here I draw the line, there are _so_ many reasons that's not physically possible. Ultimate Asshole Necrophades was trapped in the Ring with Nutcase here-" he jerked his head at Bakura, "-but that's it, he can't be in two places at once! The catalyst in Amane's mind is the reason he's free, but in order to put it there he had to be free in the first place. QED, we have a catch 22, you're not Zorc, and we should kill Bakura."

"My, someone's cranky," Bakura muttered.

"Why _yes,_" Yami seethed. "What the gave you the _clue_?

"Bravo, pharaoh," Mokuba clapped his hands gleefully. "You're completely wrong."

"No, I'm not. Stop lying and get the last challenge over with, I've had enough of this idiocy, and I know I'm not alone."

Everyone else nodded sympathetically, except for Bakura, who gave Mokuba a weary look. "Yeeeeah, they're not fast learners. That's how I survived this long. Probably easier to just explain, however you did it."

"Easier, definitely," Mokuba agreed, turning to Yami again. "That little insight as to my identity would be perfectly reasonable, were I working alone."

Everyone stared at him. For a long moment, the only sound anyone could hear was their own breathing.

"Ugh," Ryou groaned, clapping one hand over his face and gesturing vaguely at Bakura with the other. "I forgive you for all of it, even Monster World. This excuses pretty much anything."

"...are you gonna, I don't know, _explain_?" Marik prompted. He smirked and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "ultimate asshole".

"Why would I need to? It was you who helped me, after all."

Marik turned a sickly pale color as the blood drained from his face. "W-what?"

Mokuba seemed satisfied that he was being taken seriously again. "Oh, you won't remember of course, it was that handy spirit in the Millennium Rod. He set everything in motion for me without even knowing it, posing the catalyst as nothing more than a distraction as he prepared for his grand scheme. One which I ultimately overturned in favor of my own, once I was free of _his_ cloying presence." Mokuba nodded at Bakura, who glared back even harder than before.

"If you do that long enough, your face will stick that way," Yami commented.

"Shut up," Bakura growled.

"Stop saying that, it wasn't intimidating the first twelve times. Now, assuming you _aren't _Mokuba-" he turned back to the child again, "What does he have to do with all this?"

"Chance," Mokuba shrugged. "I could have just as easily settled with Joey as Mokuba.

"Come to think of it, what do _I_ have to do with all this?" Kaiba demanded.

"Oh, don't get me _started_ on what _you_ have to do with-" Bakura turned to him angrily, but Yami put a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave it, grudges can wait."

"Actually," Mokuba said quietly, "Now might be a good time to remember. You're going to need all the strength you can get for what comes next, and I've found that anger is a very efficient motivator."

"What _does_ come next?" Ryou asked warily.

"Your chance-" As Mokuba spoke, he was suddenly shrouded in writhing shadows, as was everyone else. "-to save the world."


	36. Touché

**A/N: Uugggggh, couldn't sleep last night... Really been looking forward to writing the next chapter. I'm probably wrapping this up pretty soon, so I'm going to try something new: send me your questions! In a special after-chapter, they will (almost) all be answered. You can even address them to the characters, if you want! So, either PM me/review with questions now, or at start thinking of some if you want to wait and see if they'll be answered in the story.  
**

As the darkness curled across Ryou's vision, he could hear Mokuba's voice echoing in his ears. _"Choose your form to do battle with, I am eager to defeat you in this oldest and most noble kind of duel- a regular, open-handed fight._

_Well,_ Ryou thought to himself, _I just hope he doesn't know all my tricks._ He tried to remember as much as he could about the White Mage- his memory got a bit hazy towards the end of that experience- and found that it filled itself in for him, almost automatically. He started to wonder if this was his own mind, Amane's, or Zorc's, but the cloud cleared and he was distracted with his new surroundings.

Ryou himself was dressed in a loose white robe, with yellow accents and a ridiculous hat. In one hand he held a small scepter shaped like an Ankh, which glowed slightly the gloom. Standing next to him was Bakura in full Tomb Robber regalia, with everything from the gold-lined robe to the tan skin and scar. He stretched luxuriously.

"Ohh, that's _nice_," he grinned widely. "Ryou, after I kick this guy's ass, you need to join a gym or something. And get a tan. And cut your hair. And-"

"If you're so unhappy, why didn't you move?" Yami laughed. He'd also turned back a few thousand years, sporting his pharaoh garb and a decidedly nefarious expression. Bakura, despite himself, was a little impressed.

"We did look good back then, though," he said wistfully.

"That's what everybody our age says."

"Who else _is_ our age?"

"Touché."

"Nice hat, Ryou," Yugi called. He was wearing a familiar Dark Magician costume, and Ryou smiled.

"We can probably do without these," he agreed. As they tried to figure out somewhere to put their conical, almost matching hats, they noticed Amane taking off her own headpiece. She was dressed head to toe in black and green armor that Ryou recognized from the Black Luster Soldier, but her shield was slightly different. It was a stretched triangle with an Egyptian-style eye in the middle, much like the ones on the Millennium Items.

"That's a new touch," Ryou pointed to it curiously.

"Oh- yeah," she quickly took in his robe and scepter, eyes flickering to her own outfit. "It's called the Millennium Shield, I've got it in my deck. I guess I'd be some kind of fusion monster."

A low whistle marked Marik's appearance. "Faaancy!" he said enviously. He was, quite simply, a ninja.

"Eh. It's no god card," Kaiba scoffed. The only change to his look was that he was a teenager once again, but the full-sized Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon behind him made up for whatever he lacked. "Certainly no match for my dragon."

"We are not here for posturing," Ishizu chided. She seemed to be modeled after a fairy Duel Monsters card, with six thin, feathered wings splayed out behind her and an elegant robe barely covering her somewhat human body. Kaiba's face turned pale mauve, and he quickly turned to look over his dragon.

Their short rally was to be nothing more, however. The huge cloud in front of them rumbled ominously, showing nothing more than a glowing pair of eyes. Even Bakura, confident as he was in his new (er, old) body, took a step back.

_"Pitiful."_


	37. Leaking

**A/N: Again, please send in questions, or just plain reviews.**

Ryou opened his eyes. Sand was pressed to the side of his face, and crunched softly against his elbows when he sat up. He was wearing what he had been in the real world- a light blue polo shirt and his oldest pair of jeans. The room around him- not that it was anything more than the vaguest suggestion of a room- was far more interesting, and seemed to defy as many laws of physics as Ryou knew existed.

The floor was covered in pale tan beach sand, which was trying to climb up the differently colored walls. One was a painted mural, a picturesque shadowy forest with a toy-sized tavern resting in a sunlit clearing. Another wall seemed to have given up to the sand, and fervent writing appeared and faded away constantly on the creamy slate. The third was a huge window with a view that Ryou recognized from his own apartment, a quiet street with quiet buildings. Finally, the last wall was an endless bookcase, stretching up into infinity, with a door nestled neatly between the tomes. In the center there was a thin spiral staircase which disappeared into a hole in the ceiling.

Ryou looked down. Half covered in sand were a few objects, and he leaned down to pick them up one by one. Most of them were framed pictures, but a couple had memories of their own. There was his Change of Heart, shimmering slightly in the faint light of the window, and his Monster World piece. One thing was buried so far that only a slight glimmer of it was visible. He sifted through the sand, surprised at how easily it moved, and pulled out the Millennium Ring.

"Quite a piece of work you've got here," Bakura complimented from the doorway. Ryou glanced up, wide-eyed, and Bakura chuckled. "Certainly more interesting than mine, to the casual observer."

"Casual observer... Was that an insult?" Ryou asked confusedly.

"Not really. I'm much more blunt if I'm insulting people." He sat down next to Ryou in the sand and picked up the figurine, toying with it silently.

Ryou wrapped his arms around Bakura's shoulders and began to cry. "I-It was _horrible!_" he sobbed.

"I know," Bakura said grimly, leaning his head against Ryou's since he couldn't really move his arms. "It's probably a bad sign that I'm so used to losing battles by now.

"It didn't even _do anything_, it just stood there!"

"He does that."

"How are we supposed to defeat something like that?" Ryou whispered hoarsely. "It _ate_ Kaiba's dragon..."

"Really? I think I was already gone by that point. Well, _that'll_ leave some nice mental scarring. Kid should know better than to bring up personal stuff like that."

"And Marik just- just disappeared!"

"He was a _ninja_ for cripe's sake, what was he going to do?"

"What are _we_ going to do?" Ryou yelped hysterically. Bakura pulled away and stood up.

"We're going to calm down and get some better floor for your Soul Room. I'd hate to think that I'm leaking, that means you are too."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, really, I want to know," Ryou insisted, standing up and wiping his bloodshot eyes fervently. Bakura scowled and got up after him.

"It's none of your-"

"It's _my_ head, get over it," Ryou said, glaring through what was left of his tears. "I'm sick and tired of you acting like _I'm_ the one butting in."

Bakura looked taken aback. "You... Are?"

"Yes! I know your life was messy, and you feel like you deserve another chance, but there's no such thing as a free lunch. You're not going to get back what you've lost by pretending that 5,000 years haven't gone by and nothing has changed."

Bakura took a step forward, only an inch from Ryou's face. "What could you possibly know of what I've lost? Lecturing me on what I do and don't deserve- I've payed my dues in blood and sweat and every one of those 5,000 years."

"I know _everything_ about you, Tozokou," Ryou said firmly. Bakura blinked rapidly, surprised at the sound of his name. "You let me in one too many times, and there's no room to be mysterious anymore. Nothing you can say that I would never understand. Couldn't, maybe, but not wouldn't. You know that as well as I do."

"Do I?" Bakura challenged. "Have you been so very _understanding_? Last I checked you've just been giving me puppy dog eyes and getting me to attend to your every whim."

"Then _let_ me be understanding, and stop being this aggressive, barbed-wire wrapped asshole, because I know you aren't!"

Bakura punched Ryou in the face, growing even angrier at the fact that he didn't enjoy it.

"What is your _problem_?" he screamed. "You say you don't hate me, you say it again and again- why _don't_ you? I've ruined your life, I've taken away all your friends, I'm doing everything wrong but you keep coming back with that _stupid_ hopeful look, like this time I might act differently. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over, then maybe I'm not the crazy one here."

"I never said you were." Ryou turned back to him grimly. "Or that you ruined my life. It's only ruined if I give up hope."

This seemed to make Bakura even angrier. "Then give up hope already! There's nothing to hope _for_! You're trapped here for the rest of your life, which probably won't be very long since Zorc defeated us all and has 'complete and total annihilation' next on his to do list. Even worse, you're trapped with me, and since I'm feeling just a _little_ bit irked right now, _I_ plan to make what's left of your life a living hell."

Just to add insult to injury, Bakura dredged up the most horrible memory he could possibly think of and threw Ryou into the depths of it.

_"So how was Kindergarten today?" Ryou's mother asked cheerfully from the driver's seat. Ryou fiddled with his tiny shoes as Amane chatted about her friends and the picture frame she'd covered with macaroni noodles and gold paint. As she finished, Mom looked anxiously in the rearview mirror. "How about you, Ryou? What happened today?"_

_ "Oh, um-" Ryou said quietly. "Nothing. I made a castle. Teacher let us play with the glitter today, but I didn't want to get glue on my clothes."_

_ He suddenly felt dizzy, as if the world were slipping out from under his fingers, and then-_

This part was tricky, but Bakura seamlessly changed from Ryou's memory to his.

_Bakura had been feeling bored and rather curious as to what Ryou did at this time of day, and so snuck out for just a peek of the trip home. What he found was a sickening feeling of moving but not moving, and something thin and rough pressing across his chest and lap. He scrabbled at the seatbelt frantically, and when he finally looked out the window at the world speeding by, he screamed at the top of his lungs._

_ Screeching tires. Tearing metal. And everything went black, for both of them._

Ryou was silent. Bakura was actually breathing hard after his tirade, finally satisfied that he'd struck a nerve.

"If it weren't for you..." Ryou trailed off, looking away at the changing wall of sand. A heart appeared on it, breaking into two jagged pieces and vanishing as quickly as it had come.

"Yes?" Bakura prompted. Getting Ryou truly angry at him had now become a tangible goal, since there wasn't anything _else_ to do.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have met Yugi," Ryou continued. "Or any of the friends I have now."

Bakura's eye started twitching.

"If it weren't for you, I would be in boarding school like my father wanted me to be." He laughed slightly. "Probably alone and friendless up in my room, doing homework and painting little figurines.

"My sister would never have been so independent, and I would never have loved that roleplaying game as much as you do.

"Yes, my mother is dead, I'm the basket case of the year, and it's all your fault, but if you've taught me anything, it's that looking back on what went wrong isn't healthy. That keeping grudges turns you into something scary and lost and sad. That if you have something to hope for, however faint, and however fragile, you can survive."

Bakure knew he had failed. It was a small, humiliating defeat, but somehow that didn't upset him as much as it usually would. He could already feel himself shutting down to prepare for his perpetual confinement, and he shook his head. "This really is the unstoppable force against the immovable object, huh?"

"Only if we're still against each other," Ryou said quietly.

"Like we ever couldn't be," Bakura laughed bitterly. "We're opposite ends of the magnet, oil and water, light and darkness. Never the twain shall meet, that's that, end of story. It's just so fitting that I'd end up in the head of the one person I could never work together with."

"But opposite ends of a magnet attract," Ryou reminded him. "We could make it work."

"That's what you said before."

"We could make that work, too."

Bakura just looked away sourly, stomping off to sit by the forest mural. He drew a finger over it idly, and the trees swayed as if in a heavy breeze. Ryou sat next to him.

"What was that Zorc said... About separating from you?"

"It's a bit complicated," Bakura explained quietly. There certainly wasn't any point in hiding things anymore, especially not from Ryou. "Back in Egypt, we were sealed together in the Millennium Ring. Apparently I'm stronger than I'd thought, since he was eventually convinced that he was me instead of the other way around. Or maybe he just went crazy." He stopped for a second. "Crazier. Anyway, it was a pretty seamless mixture, no matter which one of us was insane; I never really realized he was still there until now. After we _did_ separate, I knew something was different. It's like if someone went through your house and rearranged all the furniture. I started thinking weird, acting weird... In reality, I was just adjusting to being myself again." He looked up grimly. "Ryou... That could have been _us_."

Ryou paled. "What? That was nothing like what-"

"Yes, yes it was. It takes time to work out all the kinks- mood swings, random decisions, you saw that stage for yourself- but both of us would have become one person."

Ryou frowned. "...aaaand you lost me. Maybe go back to the Egypt part?"

Bakura groaned. "Didn't you ever see _Ghost in the Shell_?"

"How have you seen something that I haven't?"

"Because I get bored and you leave your computer on."

After a couple seconds of silence, Ryou changed the subject back. "At least you don't have to worry about it anymore. That kind of thing will probably never happen again, so you can finally be you again."

"I'm not sure I want to be me," Bakura sighed.

"Well, you don't _have_ to be," Ryou said easily. Bakura raised an eyebrow.

"But you just said-"

"I said you _can_ be you. People change all the time, you don't have to be anything."

Bakura was silent. He scanned the moving picture, poking at a tree and making a flock of birds swoop noisily to another perch. "We should probably do something."

"Yeah."

"What though?"

Ryou shrugged, heaving to his feet and ambling over to the sand wall. He drew a rectangle in the sand, which dropped away into blackness; curiously, Ryou poked the darkness, and was sucked out of view.

Bakura glanced over and did a double take. "-the hell!" he said indignantly.


	38. Anything

**A/N: I can haz questions?**

Ryou opened his eyes. _Woah... de ja vu,_ he thought blearily. The kitchen was dazzlingly bright after the semidarkness, and he had to squint to see properly. Everyone was still sprawled out on the table, or leaning back in their chairs, even Bakura.

"My, my, someone's figured out my little ruse," came a disappointed sigh.

Ryou sat up carefully and glared at Mokuba. "Zorc."

"Somewhat," Mokuba shrugged. "For the moment, I am little more than a shadow of my further self."

"You lied to us about that being our last chance- we didn't _have_ a chance, that was the test. To see if we could be defeated and get back up again," Ryou realized with sudden clarity.

"Yes, but tricking you was not enough to beat you," Zorc chuckled. "How very entertaining."

"We'll see how entertaining it is when I beat _you_."

Zorc raised an eyebrow. "Was that a challenge?"

"Maybe I wasn't clear enough. Zorc Necrophades, Master of Darkness, Highest of Demons, and-" _If you can hear me, Bakura, this one's for you._ "-Ultimate Asshole, I challenge you to a Shadow Game."

"Okay, that is _it_!" Zorc snarled. "From the Pharaoh it was bad enough, let alone from that imbecile with the purple shirt, but I will _not_ take that insult from a lowlife like you!" The shadow realm sprang up around them, leaving everything a faint, sketchy outline in the purple gloom. "Prepare to rot in this darkness forever!"

They stood there for a few seconds, divided only by the kitchen table. Ryou blinked, then hit himself on the head as he saw that nothing was happening.

"Oh, right- it's my game."

"What?"

"I challenged you. It's my game. My rules, too."

"Impossible," Zorc growled. "You're only a mortal, you haven't the power to start a shadow game."

"You have yourself to blame. After you let the catalyst run rampant, I-" Ryou started to explain, but stopped short. "Wow. This must be how you guys feel all the time."

Zorc smiled thinly. "Yes, that unquestionable power behind the games, all at your disposal. It's not like anything else on Earth. How does it feel to you?"

"Kinda... Sticky," Ryou concluded, shuddering. "I'd feel terrible if I was doing this to anyone I liked. Even now it's barely tolerable."

"Incredible," Zorc chuckled, "One of you self-righteous prats finally has a conscience. I suppose I can't hate your existence specifically- I'll just have to settle for hating humanity on the whole. Ah well. Are you going to tell me the rules, now?"

"I changed my mind, you can make the rules," Ryou said abruptly. "I just want two."

"What are they?"

"I'm not telling you."

"You have to!" Zorc feared that he was starting to sound as childish as he looked.

"No, that's one of my rules," Ryou continued, "That I'm not obligated to tell you my rules."

Zorc scowled. "You're just messing with me now... Clever. But perhaps not as clever as you think- you say that I can make _any_ rules?"

"Anything," Ryou nodded, an innocent smile jumping eagerly into place.. "Anything at all."


	39. Opposite

**A/N: Nice little Egyptian mythology reference there... Jinkies, my spelling's bad today. Had to go back and edit this like three times.**

"Dammit!" Bakura yelled at the doorway, as if that would somehow make it do what he wanted. Instead, it melted back into a wall with a hiss that sounded suspiciously taunting. "Fine, be that way. Stupid subconscious." Bakura sulked off to the bookshelf, leaning up against the door as if he couldn't care less what the sand wall did. After a few minutes of unmoving silence, he leaned over and picked up one of the books, flipping to a page at random.

_Oh gawd it's ham and cheese again, I hate this cheese, it's so orange. Orange flavored cheese, like that stuff you get in spray bottles in the sort-of-frozen foods aisle. Right next to the whipped cream. I could go for some whipped cream right now, more than this cheese sandwich. Will anybody notice if I just take the cheese off? See, there, that wasn't so hard, now I just have to deal with the slimy meat and the soggy bread. Is anything more disgusting than soggy bread? Cold hot chocolate, I guess. Why is cold tea worse than cold hot chocolate? And cold soup is just-_

Bakura snapped the book closed. The title, printed in faded gold on the spine, was a set of numbers instead of letters. A date- Ryou had been 6 years old.

"So these are his thoughts..." Bakura murmured, careful to put the book back in the proper place. The tomes on either side leaned away obligingly so he could slide it in. Curious now, Bakura searched for newer volumes, flipping a couple days back when Amane had stolen the ring. He remembered thinking most of the contents himself, and wondered how exactly that had worked. Did they take turns thinking? Were they literally one person? Or was it-

_"Sigh..."_

Bakura glanced around. "Beaten so easily, Ryou?"

_"Huh? Bakura?"_

"Yugi?"

_"Where are you?"_

"Where are _you_?" Bakura tugged at the door, but it remained firmly closed.

_"I'm in a room with lots of toys in it."_

"Why am I not surprised," Bakura muttered. "That's your soul room, shrimp. We're all trapped in our heads unless Ryou wins a shadow game against Zorc."

_"How do you know all this?"_

"Hmm. What's the opposite of beginner's luck?"

_"Dunno. That's all _I_ ever needed."_

"Again, not surprising. But how are we talking?"

_"I think I'm using the Millennium Puzzle."_

"How the Seth does _that_ explain anything?"

_"Maybe this is what it does? I was just thinking of how Ryou was doing, and..."_

Bakura didn't really want to admit to Yugi that that was exactly what he himself had been doing, and just made a noncommittal noise. "Hmph. Well, what are we supposed to do now?"

_"I guess we can figure out how to help Ryou."_

"Even if I _am_ in his soul room, there's not much I can do, let alone anything _you_ can do from yours." Bakura wondered what would happen if he tried to break that window overlooking the street, or if he rearranged the bookshelf. Boredom descended in an effort to quench his worry, and he pulled out a book at random to place it at random in again. Something tapped him on the shoulder, and he whirled around.


	40. Reassuring

"Since you were _disorganized_ enough not to have brought a deck," Zorc drawled, "We'll have to use something a little less traditional."

"Amane's playing cards?" Ryou suggested.

"You dare pose a suggestion _now_?" Zorc said sharply. "It's my game! Unfortunately, we have nothing else to use..."

_Oh for heaven's sake,_ Ryou thought grumpily. _If this were any more cliché, I'd be our last hope._

_ ...wait. Damn. _That's_ reassuring._

"The rules will be quite simple," Zorc continued in the same slimy tone. "The deck is split between us, and we each take the top five cards from our draw pile, drawing more cards to keep five in our hands at all times. We'll both put down a card face up at the same time, the goal being to beat the other card in value. Value ascends from 2 to Ace, with the ace vulnerable to only 2. If the cards we play have equal values, victory is determined by the suit. Spades beat diamonds, diamonds beat hearts, hearts beat clubs, and clubs beat spades. If you win a battle, you get to keep your card and insert it into your save pile, which becomes your draw pile when that runs down. If you lose, you give your opponent your card."

"So we're playing a hybrid of War, Duel Monsters, and rock paper scissors?"

"I had less than a minute to come up with this!"

"Point taken. May I?" Ryou held out his hand and took the deck, shuffling one last time before dealing it evenly between them.

_Five of hearts, four of hearts, seven of diamonds, ten of spades, and King of spades. Not _bad_, per se, but not good._

"Have you picked your card?" Zorc glanced from his own slips of paper to Ryou's.

_Let's see, he won't be stupid enough to waste his strong cards now, so I might as well go with my middle card._ Ryou nodded and laid down his seven.

Zorc stacked it under the ten he'd just played and set it next to his draw pile.


	41. Perish the thought

What was standing behind Bakura was something he'd had nightmares about quite often as a child. It looked exactly like him- or, more appropriately, Ryou- if he were made out of sand. Bakura made a strangled whimper, and the sand person punched him in the face.

The only thing Bakura could compare his beating to was being bludgeoned over the head with a running belt sander. The sandman kicked him angrily, making a strange growling noise.

_ID!_ something hissed from near the sand wall, and Bakura squinted over to see another sandman exactly like the first. The first one stopped kicking and made a "do you mind" gesture at the second. The second tsk'd, rushing over to help Bakura up after placing the book carefully back in its place. _I'm terribly sorry about my Id, he's... Well._

"Your what?" Bakura sat out a mouthful of sand and blood, touching his split lip gingerly.

_My Id. Well, he's not actually mine, he's Ryou's. I'm Ryou's super-ego._

_Nothing super about you,_ Id grumbled.

_Then why is it my nickname?_ Super crossed his arms defiantly. A third figure came between them calmly, putting a hand in the middle of both their arms.

_Because I'm already named Ego,_ Ryou's Ego said patiently. _Behave in front of the Guest._

"Guest?" Bakura repeated. Ego nodded, turning to him with the vague impression of a smile.

_Guest. Normally you live next-door, so it's a pleasure to meet you out of person._

_ Pleasure!_ Id snorted. _I've half a mind to kick him out again._

_Now, what will that get done?_ Ego chided him. _You know we have to work together with him, and it's about time you accepted it, both of you. Ryou doesn't have time for second thoughts anymore._

_Second thoughts? I'm what should be first on his mind!_ Id whined. _We all know he favors Not-So-Super-Ego._

Ego shook his head. _That's not true, not anymore at least, and the Guest is to thank for that. If anything, Super should be the one wanting him out._

_I've been meaning to talk to you about that._ Super turned to Bakura disapprovingly. _You're more than a bit of a bad influence on us, and that needs to stop._

"E-excuse me?" Bakura laughed.

_You heard me. I have a hard enough time keeping Id in control as it is, and I don't need you messing with Ego._

"Look, maybe you should take this up with _my_ subconscious," Bakura suggested.

_Surprisingly enough, that's harder than it sounds,_ Ego said ruefully. _Otherwise we'd gladly work things out with them._

_Okay,_ Bakura thought, steading himself, _Okay, I'm talking to Ryou's subconscious. Moving on. _If there was one thing he'd learned to do extremely well, it was recover. "Wait. Id. You said you don't like me?"

_Oh, I never said that,_ Id countered cheerfully, _You're great fun._

"Oh." Bakura was starting to get the feeling that Id was a tad bipolar. "But... You were beating me up a second ago."

_Still terribly sorry for that, by the way,_ Super coughed. Bakura was about to tell him off for interrupting, but Ego started to explain.

_Remember that we're all one person, Guest. We speak for each other._

"Right."

_It wouldn't hurt you to keep our feelings in mind a little more often in general, actually,_ Id grumbled.

"I'll do that."

_Thank you!_ all three said in unison.

_Here's the newest Volume._ Ego handed Bakura a book from the shelf that was slowly growing thicker and thicker, and Bakura hefted it before flipping through a couple of the newer pages.

"Yugi, what's your take on this?"

_"I'm confused and intrigued."_

"Yes, but that doesn't help much, does it?"

_"I'm sorry!"_

"Out of all the people I could be sharing thoughts with, of course it's Gutless McDiffident," Bakura muttered sourly, snapping the book closed. Super took it quickly and placed it back on the shelf.

_"Goodness, you know what that word means?"_ The voice sounded somewhat like Yugi, but not entirely._ "Here I thought you never learned how to read."_

"Pharaoh?" Bakura asked incredulously. "No, wait, I take it back-"

_"Did that help?" _Yugi asked hopefully. Bakura was about to break out another sardonic remark, but thought of Ryou and stopped.

"Let's just get working, okay? Ryou doesn't stand a chance without me, and I have no way of helping."

_"I can probably link you through if you're thinking similar thoughts as him."_

"Alright, I'm ready."

_"How do you know?"_ Yami said suddenly.

"What?"

_"How do you know he doesn't stand a chance without you? I mean, I'd be the first to admit that he's wasn't the best duelist when last I checked, but neither was Yugi when he met me. Maybe Ryou's gotten better, learned a thing or two."_

"No," Bakura demanded. There was a short pause.

_"No, what?" _Yugi finally asked quietly.

"No, he's not doing this alone, and that's final."

_"You're sounding suspiciously altruistic today,"_ Yami pointed out. _"Stop it, it's creepy."_

"Altruism?" Bakura grinned wickedly. "Perish the thought. I just have a score to settle."


	42. So much

**A/N: Often while writing Yu-gi-oh fanfiction, I like to look at pictures on the side to refresh my memory of what the characters look like. Mostly Bakura, which led me to watching the infamous church scene at the beginning of episode 199. In the Japanese version, they're just kind of standing around while Bakura monologues, and I'm pretty sure that Ryou's seiyuu is a girl; in the English version, Ryou's accent is rather irking at the beginning, but he compensates by actually getting a few words in edgewise with it, and being beee-youtifully dramatic at the end.**

** Then I watched that one clip of Bakura tearing apart a steak like a ravenous shark. Goood times.**

**Also, 42. Lawl. Okay, I'll shut up now.  
**

If the game hadn't been invented about ten minutes ago, Ryou would have chalked up his losses to inexperience. As it was, he could only blame bad luck, of which there seemed to be a terrifying abundance. _How- How is it even _possible_ to get a hand full of twos?_ he thought weakly. So far, he'd lost half of his deck to Zorc, and what was left seemed pitiful and flimsy, hardly something to save the world with.

"Tired of losing?" Zorc asked maliciously, and Ryou bit his lip.

"I- I haven't lost yet," he stammered meekly.

"Fool. You don't believe that, and why should you? I can see it in the terror behind your eyes, hear it in the quiver of your voice, feel it in the way your shaking hand moves the very space around you. You have not lost, Ryou Bakura, not yet, but you are defeated."

Ryou was silent. It was true, the air around him was almost visibly shaking, though from fear or anger it wasn't quite clear.

_"Mle-eh."_ He stuck out his tongue at Zorc. "Nuts to your monologuing, let's finish this."

Zorc's eyes widened. "You...?"

Bakura grinned crazily. "Me."

"Impossible!"

"Nothing's impossible, not for lack of trying, though. I have to hand it to you, I don't think anyone's tried quite so hard to get rid of me for a few thousand years. To be honest, I kind of missed you sucking my soul out."

"But I've always been there with you, Tomb Robber." Zorc had regained his composure and was not set on ruining Bakura's. "Every second of it."

"Cheh- people say _I_ have issues," Bakura scoffed. "You're a stalker who lurks in the back of peoples minds, feeding off their life force until you can stab them in the back. I bet this isn't the first time you've done this, either."

Zorc growled, and Bakura laughed.

"It _isn't_! Wooow, you must have messed up huge!"

"Insolent worm! You will be punished beyond belief once I have won."

"You can stick that punishment right up your-"

_** [LET. ME. OUT.]**_

Bakura winced. _Ow. Watch how hard you ask._

_[Let me out, NOW.]_

_ Ryou, I promise that after this I'll give over every time you want your body, but I need to face him, and I need to be here to do it._

_ [No, you don't understand, I-]_

_ You what? You conveniently developed a thousand year old grudge against the Demon Lord in the last five minutes? There is _nothing _you can gain from going back out. Tell me one good reason and I _might_ consider it._

_ [What makes you think you have a choice?]_

_ Wait a minute, why does that sound familiaAAAUGH!_ Bakura's head was filled with the sound of nails screeching down a chalkboard, and his vision went splotchy and dark. In seconds flat, Ryou had clawed his way back into control, and Bakura was left convulsing in his soul room. Ryou's game was superimposed across his vision, and if he concentrated he could see it properly, but right then he was in no mood to do so. _What was _that_?_

_ [Not nice when someone forces into your head, is it?]_ Ryou thought with a certain amount of smugness.

_I think you broke my brain..._

_ [Funny. Mine must be in pieces by now.]_

_ Okay, maybe I-_

Bakura stopped.

_...I'm sorry._

_ [That's better. Me too. Now help me win this idiotic game.]_

_ Let's see what you have._

_ [Don't you want to know the rules?]_

_ Nah. War, Duel Monsters, and rock paper scissors, right?_

_ [How-?]_

_ I never thought I'd say this, but there's only so much you can do with cards._


	43. Loss

It was plain to see that there was only one person in charge of Ryou's movements, but it was also plain that he wasn't acting the same. Zorc had dismissed both Ryou and Bakura as barely worth playing against, but between the two of them they were a definite threat.

_The key is to make sure that you have mostly strong cards in your deck._ They were quickly crafting a makeshift strategy for the game, which turned out to be easier than anticipated.

_[Which should be easy to do, since only my strong cards have made it this far. After this we just have to wait it out.]_

_And get rid of those twos._

_ [Definitely.]_

The plan seemed to be working well- Ryou's deck had been streamlined by Zorc's conservative scavenging, leaving him with a handful of higher level cards and only a couple low level ones. Several times he won battles with suit advantage, and Bakura helped keep track of what cards were in his deck.

_ [Something is bothering me, though,]_ Ryou thought vaguely as he played his last two. _[Zorc has all of the aces, but he hasn't played a single one.]_

_ Maybe he's afraid of that two?_

Zorc chuckled as he picked up the card. "If you hadn't wanted to surrender before, now might be a good time to change your mind."

Ryou eyed him warily. "Why do you say that?"

"Isn't it obvious? As of now, you have nothing to stop my aces with."

_No..._

"No..."

"Oh yes," Zorc smirked. "I thought this game through more than you thought. There is room for five cards in my hand- all I have to do is keep four twos and an open spot, and play whatever comes into that open spot."

_[He's going to suck us dry with that strategy,] _Bakura concluded grimly. _[Slowly and painfully.]_

Zorc proceeded to do just that. Whenever Ryou felt like he might be getting the upper hand, Zorc would come out with two or three aces in a row. It wasn't by much, but it dented Ryou's deck every time.

Finally, he had one card left.

_A three,_ Bakura thought bitterly. _If _that_ isn't irony, I don't know what is._

Ryou smiled.

_Wait, what?_

He made a very uncharacteristic evil chuckle.

_We're about to make the biggest loss in the history of losing, and you find this funny?_

"Well, Zorc, it seems you have me beaten. I don't suppose you'd let me use my rule now?"

"Do as you like," Zorc shrugged. "I'll beat you anyway, no matter what you do."

"I win."

There was a short pause.

"Aren't you going to say the rule?" Zorc asked slowly.

"Yes, that was the rule. I win."

"...wha?"

"It's very simple. I can say it again, if you'd like. I _win_." He would have had a hard time keeping a straight face even without Bakura laughing hysterically in the background, but he managed.

"That's- That's not _fair!_" Zorc whined.

"It is too, you said I could have any rule."

"You _cheated!_"

"What does Mokuba have to say on this?"

"I don't care what that insignificant child has to-" Zorc suddenly froze, his words sticking in his throat.

Mokuba looked up with a satisfied half-smile. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with Ryou."

As the two fought for control of Mokuba's facial expression, Ryou shuddered, forgetting for a second that Bakura was only in his head."Let's never do that...

_ "_Agreed.

"But you just-" Ryou laughed, letting Bakura do the same after a second. Ryou was pretty sure that he was in shock, but didn't much care. The shadows were slowly receding around them, and the future looked brighter than ever.


	44. Really

Zorc was gone by the time they made it back to the real world. Everyone sat up groggily, glancing around.

"Did... Did it break or something?" Amane yawned tiredly. "The catalyst, I mean."

"No," Ryou said quietly, winking at Bakura across the table. "We won."

"Fan-_tabulous_!" Marik cackled, slamming one hand on the table and high-fiving Amane with the other.

"This means we all go back to normal, right?" Mokuba asked timidly, peeking up from under the table.

"You didn't really change, though," Ryou pointed out doubtfully. A pair of messy brown wings spread out behind Mokuba, and he crossed his arms.

"Say that again."

"Mokuba." Ishizu jumped up on the table and sat down in front of him. "You should still have the Millennium Key's power- now we need to remove the catalyst before further damage can be caused.

"But what about-"

Bakura put a hand over Ryou's mouth stoically. Yami gave Bakura a scathing look. "No, what was he going to say?"

Ryou pulled the hand off. "What about him?" He glanced at Bakura, who looked away.

"What _about_ me," he muttered. "You're not going to get them to agree with you, Ryou. I know exactly where they stand. Though, that does remind me, before I go-"

He jumped up onto and over the table and kissed Amane. When they drew apart, she didn't look half as upset as she did surprised. "I don't much care if this is Ryou influencing me, but I love you. Remember that." Perfectly casually, as if he did that sort of thing every day, Bakura climbed back over the table to stand with Ryou again. He then gave a start, remembering something. "Oh, right! And I've always wondered-"

He leaned over and kissed Marik, who quickly shoved him away.

"...aaaand you ruined it," Amane grumbled, placing a hand on her forehead.

"I could kiss you again if that'd help," Bakura suggested eagerly.

"Are we done?" Ishizu asked coldly. Ryou finally caught Bakura's gaze.

_[You're sure you're all right with this?]_

_ I trust you._

_ [You... Really?]_

_ I do._

They both nodded, and Mokuba stared intently at Amane for a moment.

The room went dark- and everything changed.


	45. Two

**A/N: Fun fact, the unedited version of this fanfiction was exactly 50 chapters long. Anyway, just finishing stuff up. Hope you liked it! Now is the time, folks- PM me/review with your questions, for either the author or characters!  
**

"I _hate_ airports..." Amane shuddered.

"Even with me carrying your luggage?" Ryou pointed out drily. They were dropping Marik off at his boarding gate, and were going to Amane's next.

"Even with you carrying my luggage," she nodded. "It's all the _waiting_ and the _boredom_ and the _cruddy_ blueberry muffins."

"Still feeling a tad sick, are we?" Marik teased. A few minutes earlier, they had picked up provisions in the form of coffee and a muffin for Amane and a water bottle for Marik.

"Wasn't your sister going back with you?" Amane asked, eager to change the subject.

"No, she wanted to stay and settle things with Kaiba." Marik didn't look particularly happy about this, but also didn't think that there was anything he could do about it. They got to the boarding gate, and Marik set his carry-on down gingerly. "Well, this is my stop."

"Any regrets about not staying a girl?" Amane laughed.

"Maybe a couple. I still get the occasional guy eyeing me up, though, so it's not that different."

"Well, feel free to call any time."

"Same to you."

Ryou and Marik exchanged an awkward silence.

"...my God, you're scared of me, aren't you?" Marik sighed.

"It's not really anything personal!" Ryou said hastily. "I-I just don't know you that well, and, well, what I do remember..."

"Yeeeah, I'm sorry about that."

Ryou held out his hand with a weak smile. "All in the past, right?"

"Right."

As Marik took Ryou's hand, Bakura pulled him into a bear hug. "Come over more often_,_ you hear? Everyone else hates me."

"I'll see what I can do. But I still haven't forgiven you for that kiss."

After seeing Marik off, they made their way to Amane's gate and settled into the flimsy seats. "I'm going to miss you so much..." Ryou said sadly, and Amane hugged him.

"Don't worry, I won't be gone forever. I can still come visit, or you could visit me."

"I'm not sure I want to try taking him on a plane just yet," Ryou grimaced. Amane laughed.

"How's he doing, by the way?"

"Mmm... I'll let him tell you. He wants to say goodbye anyway." Under Ryou's shirt, the Millennium Ring flashed once.

"Why do you have to go back?" Bakura complained immediately.

"So I can _come_ back," Amane said sagely. Bakura rolled his eyes.

"Right, right. Well, I probably shouldn't kiss you with Ryou's body, so..." He hugged her tightly. "You'll write?"

"Every week."

"Is that even possible?"

She laughed again. "You'll have to get Ryou to show you a computer."

"He doesn't sound too happy with that."

"I can imagine..."

The gates opened, and Amane glanced over. "Guess that's it then."

"I love you," both Ryou and Bakura said in unison. Amane smiled.

"I love you two."


End file.
